Re: RWBY
by Dravyn LeCrux
Summary: After meeting an unfortunate fate during a hunt, Ruby finds herself getting a second chance in a new world where magic is prevalent and monsters are a threat. Can she use this chance to successfully become the huntress she wished to, or will she fall prey again to the fate of all warriors?
1. Reincarnated: Ruby

Sometimes, life just goes a way you don't really expect.

For Ruby Rose, life was fun. For eighteen years, she lived as any girl would. She studied in an academy for budding hunters, fought against bad guys and monsters, and occasionally went out to sing karaoke on the weekends. Okay, maybe not the most normal way to live, but it was her life. While others went to normal high schools and such, Ruby had studied to be a huntress. She trained herself to wield steel and fire against the Grimm, creatures that had long ravaged Remnant.

It was a harsh life for some, and those types generally ended up crushed by the weight of all of that pressure. Ruby was the kind of person who happily embraced such a life. When she was younger, she was motivated by thoughts of it being like the stories her older sister would read to her before bed. Now, a little more mature, Ruby still reasoned that it was a good life to help others out. She knew, from personal experience by this point, that there were no heroes. Instead, she opted to do what she could. And so she studied, improved her knowledge as much as she could to make up for what her lazier younger self would not.

Today was a routine hunt for Ruby. As of late, she'd taken to going on missions outside of the academy on her off days to make a little extra money on the side. She would be graduating soon, and she wanted to be able to find a place to live afterwards. Of course such a desire came from the fact that most of her friends, and her sister, have moved off of campus and out into town. The freedom of your own place was much nicer than the dorm rooms they lived in, and Ruby wanted to experience such a thing for herself. So while the week belonged to her team, the weekends belonged to Ruby Rose, the Huntress!

The mark this time was supposed to be a Beowolf pack. Known for being quite aggressive, their kind rarely tended to live long enough to truly become dangerous to your average hunter. For Ruby, they often counted as little more than a warmup. But the job this time had a rather unusually high pay out. Ruby didn't put much stock in this little oddity. The job mentioned that it was just a pack, and the client was a small settlement on the outskirts of Vale. Those types of places, expecially those in their early stages like this one, had a tendency to pay high due to their budget for security oftentimes being rather large due to the lack of security personnel so early on. It was a situation Ruby wasn't going to pass up. It was her or somebody else who would get the contract, and she honestly would prefer that it be her.

When she was closing in on the settlement that put out the contract, Ruby noticed something. Or technically, it was a lack of something that caught her attention. In her range of vision, she could see the gates to the place, and yet they were barren. No guards, no workers. Nobody. She didn't even hear anything. Even at her distance, some sort of clamor should have been been in her auditory range. Even focusing her aura to her ears, Ruby didn't pick up on anything. Heck, even screaming or yelling would be welcome from this eerie silence. Putting her hand to the mechanical sniper rifle and great scythe hybrid, Crescent Rose, on her back, Ruby picked up her pace. Now running, she made her way to the place with all necessary haste.

The Hunter's Association had a rather sizeable number of rules. Of course most were common sense, and a lot dealt with normal morals. One of the more well known rules though, one that everyone knew, was that civilian lives had priority no matter the situation. Protect those who cannot protect themselves. And regular soldiers and security personnel could only do so much, especially when a majority of the people here were construction workers and engineers. Hoping to find anyone, Ruby rushed in.

When she entered the settlement, however, she was met with a feeling of dread. Before her eyes lay a sight that would make all but the most hardened of warriors retch. Littering the streets were corpses. Hundreds, or so it seemed. With limbs, digits, and bodies thrown everywhere, she couldn't exactly grasp the number of casualties from a quick glance. And with the situation not being very favorable, she couldn't afford to act on her base instinct and reel back from the disgusting sight. There may have been survivors, and she had to find them if there were.

"Hello! Is anyone here?! My name is Ruby Rose, and I've come from the Hunter's Association to take on the request to slay the nearby Grimm! If anyone is alive, please answer me!" Ruby ran around imploring any survivors to come out. She shouted at the top of her lungs, but yet she never received a response. Desperate, Ruby further increased the volume of her voice until it dawned on her. It was hopeless. There was nobody left here. Nobody to respond. Quieting down in a small moment of shock, her features quickly twisted to anger. Anger towards the Grimm who made it their mission in this world to hunt down and slaughter the innocent to the last.

While Ruby thought of how long it would take her to find the pack, her shouts were met with a response. A low, throaty growl. Stepping out from the other side of a half-complete office building, a large black creature came into Ruby's view. It's forearms and face covered in a white bony plate with red markings, she knew exactly what it was. A Grimm. A Beowolf. One of her targets. And it could not have come at a better time.

As soon as it saw Ruby, the beast opened it's maw to growl at her. But this was no movie, nor a film. Without waiting to let it finish it's threat, Ruby whipped out Crescent Rose as fast as was physically possible for her, pointed towards the creature, and fired. It was over in an instant. The head was blown clean off of it's shoulders. Lifeless, it's body shuddered a little once, and then fell to the ground, already dissipating into the inky black smoke that all Grimm became upon death. Looking at it, Ruby could see it's claws were a strange shade that resembled rust. And Ruby knew precisely what it was. And that only angered her further.

Moving toward the direction the Beowolf came from, Ruby could hear it. Growling. Roaring. Her enemies. Moving swiftly and with a purpose, Ruby charged toward the sound, scythe in hand. She knew where her enemies were, and it was time for a hunt.

It took no time for her to locate the Grimm, especially with her speed. Before her stood several dozen Beowolves, all staring at her like a meal. A funny thought that would be at any other time, especially considering Grimm didn't even eat. No, they simply killed because it was their nature. Pointing the barrel of Crescent Rose's rifle behind her, Ruby didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. With that one click, the recoil sent Ruby flying towards the opposition at incredible speed. Before they could even register what she'd done, three of their number had lost their heads. Where the Beowolves once stood, now lay three crumpled black masses, roses streaming around the bodies in the wake of Ruby's swift assault.

"..."

No words were necessary for Ruby right now. Shouting in anger, or trying to mock the Grimm was a waste. They couldn't be provoked, only destroyed. And Ruby had every intention of doing so right now. Her vision clouded by the color red, she tore through the pack with efficiency and brutality. Not a single swing of her precious scythe went wasted, as each passing of the blade reaped the life of at least one of the pack's number before her. The thoughts of the dead were wiped from her mind, and the misdeeds of the Grimm forgotten. All that remained was a serene state of mind where only one thought existed. The idea that she had to destroy the enemy before her, or they would destroy her.

By the time she had calmed down, the Grimm were wiped out. Strewn around her were a great many eviscerated Beowolves, all in the process of disappearing. With at least the feeling of having gotten some small measure of revenge for the people here, Ruby turned back towards the direction of town to report about the town when a noise caught her attention. Turning slightly, something entered her vision that defied all logic. It was a Beowolf, she thought. But not. It stood twice her size, and had as many plates armoring it as a old Boarbatusk. It's size alone told Ruby that this thing was formidable, more so than any Grimm she'd fought before.

Before she could even take a stance, it charged her. Despite it's great size, the 'Wolf was capable of incredible speeds. By the time she managed to get her weapon ready, it'd gotten close enough to take a swing at her. Accelerating as fast as she could, Ruby launched off of the ground and leaped as high as she could, clearing the creature easily. Taking careful aim, Ruby fired twice towards the head. Neither shot could get through the thick covering over it's skull, however, and the Beowolf merely roared at her in response. After landing, Ruby continued to fire shots at the beast, to no avail. It was well protected, something that showed the Grimm's age better than anything else. This was not the type of Grimm that could be beaten by a lone huntress or huntsman. But she had no choice. If it got away now, no doubt it would only cause further harm.

Leaping off the ground, Ruby moved in to better utilize her scythe. Before she could swing, her path was intercepted by a large claw. With reflexes beyond what a normal Beowolf should have, the thing swiped at Ruby, sending her flying. Even protected by her aura, Ruby felt that one. After braking, Ruby gingerly felt the place that was hit, and winced from the pain. She's been hit and thrown around a lot by Grimm, but none have ever quite damage her this much. Steeling her resolve, Ruby looked again to the foe before her. This battle would not be easy. But she couldn't flee.

Feeling around her belt, Ruby grabbed for something that was inside of the pouch on her hip. It was a magazine, marked with four arrows pointing inwards in a sort of 'X' pattern. Ejecting her current magazine, Ruby put this one in, cocked her weapon, and pointed it again at the enemy. These were some of her strongest bullets. If these didn't dent the thing, nothing would. Firmly planting her feet, leaning slightly forward, and burying the tip of her scythe in the ground, Ruby took aim as though manning some sort of ballista. After a millisecond, she fired. When impacted, the rounds exploded against the Beowolf, causing it to visibly flinch and shudder. The recoil from such a shot nearly sent her flying though, and she had to reposition herself for another. Taking aim again, Ruby shot at the Beowolf's chest, and struck. This time, she was met with a loud and wrathful roar as one of it's arms were blown clean off, along with a good portion of it's shoulder. But it did not stop.

Moving as though unaffected, the Beowolf leapt at her. She couldn't correct herself in time, and she knew it. Throwing one of her arms forward as though to protect herself, Ruby cried out as a searing pain leapt through her body. The Beowolf had grasped her arm in it's maw, and tore it completely off. And as it opened it's mouth one more time to take yet another chunk off of her body, Ruby gave a small grimace. Her remaining arm, after having pulled back the bolt on Crescent Rose, repositioned the gun to the Beowolf's great, gaping maw. Without slowing, she fired, taking both it's head, and a portion of it's upper torso, clear off. Unfortunately, she shot back into the ground by the recoil, leaving Ruby without even have the energy to stand. Right now, all she could feel was a sick, burning feeling coming from the area her right arm used to be. But it was strange. She also felt cold. Strangely and utterly cold. It was a chill that slowly worked it's way around her body. She couldn't quite tell where it was coming from, but to her it didn't really matter. She had to make her way back. But she was so tired. All she could do was lay where she was. So she would take a quick nap. Yeah. Rest real quickly, grab her arm, and head back to Vale where she could hopefully get it re-attached. But first, she just wanted to close her eyes real quick.

* * *

 _There was no dream. No images, no sounds. Simply darkness, and silence. It was creepy, and yet oddly comforting in a way. And yet, she had no idea what it all meant. Normally, there would be a dream. Even in such a situation. One of possible hope, reminding her of what she needed to return home for. Then she would wake up and find her strength again, and carry on. That's how it was supposed to be, right? That's how it always was in the movies, and in those books that Blake always lent her. So then why was she not dreaming? Why did she feel weak? Why...?_

* * *

That had all happened four years ago.

Today was another bright day as usual, and she knew it. While her name used to be Ruby Rose, she'd long since come into this new world as another. The proper word for it was reincarnation. Right? Sometimes she would ruminate on it, and others she would simply let things be. As much as she could tell, the girl named Ruby Rose had died. After having lost an arm to the Beowolf she'd fought, she bled out and eventually succumbed. But it was strange. She imagined the afterlife to be different. More cookies and milk, and less of this.

Ever since her previous life had ended, she wound up being born into this place as Alexandra Crux Du Noire. While her name and family had changed, she had not. When she was born, she was noted for being the only one in her family to have such dark red hair, almost to the point of being black. And her eyes were of an unusual silvery sheen. When she looked into a mirror, she could still see Ruby Rose, and it was a sort of comfort for her. Here, she was born to the family of a well ranking knight who held the position of being an instructor for the vanguard of the kingdom's elite forces. Overall, her status of birth was quite okay.

Her memory from before had returned shortly after her second birthday. A little incident falling off of window sill and onto a rock gave her mind a jolt. As she lay unconscious for what was apparently a few hours, her memories came flooding back into her. When she awoke, she was both Alexandra, and Ruby. And the way the world seemed to her was strange, alien. It was like those novels she'd taken to reading before, the ones about someone dieing and reincarnating in another world. But this place wasn't like an RPG sort like the novels usually had, nor were there any apparent levels and such. On top of it all, no higher being came to give her a special, powerful ability to compensate her for having died how she did. No. She simply came here with her memories intact. And she felt kind of ripped off from it.

It was an odd feeling to look at the world through the eyes of a child while holding the soul of an adult. Even with Ruby's naturally impish and excitable personality, her maturity had long since calmed her down. So while the rest of world she now grew up in saw her as having completely changed after her accident, Ruby- no, Alexandra, saw the world as being wrong. It took her nearly a year to be able to play the child again, and only after finally being able to accept that ever seeing her old family or friends again was completely impossible. In fact, she didn't even know where to begin if such a thing were even possible.

And so instead of simply pining for the family she could never again see, she tried to love the new family that she had been given. One older brother, one older sister, and a set of fraternal twins (one a boy, and one a girl) younger than her. These were the siblings she had now. She was the third child in the Noire family out of five, enjoying a nice position as the middle child. And so she grew up as a child in that household.

* * *

When she was four, she found herself wanting to be able to fight again. The thought of studying aside, she desired a chance to train herself. But something was missing. Her Aura. In Remnant, one's Aura supplemented their abilities. It could be used to strengthen, defend, and heal oneself. And based upon the person to whom it belonged, one's Aura could even perform other abilities. These abilities were referred to as a Semblance, a specific aspect of one's abilities that reflects their nature. Ruby, when she was such, could increase her speed to something unimaginable by an ordinary hunter. Of course such speed came at the cost of wearing down her stamina quickly, making it good for use to end small fights quickly, or try to eliminate bigger threats as fast as possible in larger fights. A prolonged fight was often the bane of her speed. And this speed was reflected in the hyperactive persona she used to have as Ruby, always being excited and cheerful during those days.

One day when night descended upon the house, she decided to sneak out. For most, unlocking their Aura required outside help, especially as the intricacies of doing such a thing were fairly... difficult. But as someone who'd done so before and held extensive experience using hers, Alex was more than capable of unlocking it on her own. Wandering back into the fields below her room, she took a quick glance around her to assure herself that nobody was watching. Of course anyone who saw a young girl suddenly glow brightly would be worried like crazy.

When one's Aura was unlocked, they would shine with the force of their soul entering into the visible spectrum for a brief period. Oftentimes due to their age at the time, most would be fairly weak, leading to a dim glow. Aura could be strengthened over time with repeated use and training, so she wasn't expecting too much this time. After confirming that she was indeed alone, she proceeded to do so.

"It is at the end that we reach our beginning. Here we become the epitome of virtue and glory to rise, unceasing in growth and unrestricted by the thorns of strife. Free this soul, and let my fate be unbound." After finishing, she could feel it coming back to her.

See, the process of using such a chant to unlock one's Aura did not exactly stem from it being any sort of magical spell or anything. The chant was used simply as a focus to allow one to clear their mind and do precisely what they want. In simple terms, it's like providing a guide of sorts for your mind to reach the desired state you need to either unlock your own, or the Aura of another. Like placing tracks before a railroad to guide it's path. Something like that.

After finishing though, Ruby noticed something. Her surroundings were lit up brightly. This was less the sort of Aura one would have at the age of four, and more the kind of Aura Jaune had back in Beacon.

Oh, right. To explain a little more, Jaune was a friend Ruby had made back when she studied at Beacon Academy. The two entered at the same time, became leaders of their respective teams, and got along rather swimmingly due to both having similar cases of social anxiety. When she had free time, she would often play video games with him or simply just hang out. That or train him in ways that often left him a sweaty mess on the ground. Regardless, his skill may have been below par, but his sheer stamina and Aura capacity led to him being one of the tankiest people Ruby had ever fought with. Wearing him down in a spar was something Ruby would often compare to besieging a castle.

But enough of that. The young Alex now had an Aura capacity to rivaled Jaune's back during their first hear of studying in Beacon. Of course this wasn't an issue for her. In fact, it was a blessing that Ruby almost considered to be a positive upside to the situation. Sure, she may not have been granted overpowered abilities or anything, but with her Aura capacity as it was, it would be possible for her to take up her weapon like before.

After successfully unlocking her Aura, Alex was left feeling quite fatigued. Wanting to get back and rest, she climbed her way back up to the second story from which she'd come and hopped back into her rather large and comfortable bed. After snuggling with the extra pillow she always kept, she let her mind wander into comfortable places before finally succumbing to the sweet temptation of sleep.

* * *

In the morning, Alex was awoken by something. It was something she should have gotten used to, and yet still hadn't. The something in question? Her older brother, Michael, tickling her awake. Ever since she could remember, he'd had a fondness for messing with her. But not in a cruel way. It was almost playful. Michael was already ten years of age, and had been training with their father for the past five years to learn his swordsmanship. As per tradition, once he came of age he would become a squire under their father, eventually taking his place as a knight in service of the kingdom later. This was what the male heirs of the Noire family had always done, and would continue to do in the future.

Even with his training in the morning, he always found time to come and wake his little sister up with a surprise attack. And yet despite him doing it, Alex never grew to hate it. If anything, it only endeared her more to her older brother. It was the sort of thing Yang, her sister when she was Ruby, would often do. If anything, he reminded her a little bit of Yang. His hair was a light gold color, bordering on platinum in some places, and his eyes were a gentle and light amethyst color. Overall, he was her favorite sibling for these reasons, and a few others. After being woken, Michael ran out of her room, laughing like an imp. Before he left completely however, he reminded Alex to hurry down for a breakfast.

After climbing out of bed and rummaging around for some regular clothes, she eventually settled on a simple white skirt with a red blouse. Going to her mirror, she used her little comb to try and tame her bed head. And when she felt she had done what she could, she descended the stairs and headed towards the dining area. When she arrived, she was greeted with the sight of her father sitting at the head of the table, Michael to his right. She could hear her mother in the kitchen. And from the sounds, it seemed like her sister, Elizabeth, was also helping out. Elizabeth was only a year younger than Michael, and so was older than Alex by a full five years. And yet she was a wonderful older sister. Having gotten more from her mother's side, she had a soft brown hair color and eyes to match.

With her younger siblings nowhere in sight, she assumed they were likely still sleeping. Still, the two of them were not even a year old yet, so it was likely they were exhausted from crying through the night. Taking her usual seat right beside Michael, Alex saw her mother walking out from the kitchen carrying a pot in her hands, followed by her sister holding another platter.

"I'm sorry it took so long to finish dear. This new grit stuff took a little longer to properly soak in than our normal rice. Why I ever let you convince me to try it is a wonder to me." As she set the pot in her hands down onto the table, she gave a gentle smile and a small shake of the head, as though teasing her husband.

"I'm sorry, but the boys I was teaching the other day swore that these were a great meal for the morning time, and that it had them feeling more energetic for practice. I just wanted to try it out." Immune by this time to his wife's little antics, Sebastian Williams Du Noire gave a wide grin as he reached for the pot. "Plus, I did offer to hire some staff to handle the kitchen work. After all, it's strange that despite having such a good income you still decide to do the housework."

"Well dear, I just think it's more fun to do my own cooking. It's a good skill to have and improve." After placing down the towels protecting her hands from the pot's heat, Marriene moved back in the kitchen to grab something. A small clay pot filled with butter. "I hear these go well with some fresh butter, so help yourself."

Without much else, the family sat down and began to enjoy their simple meal for breakfast. A pot of grit porridge, and a tray with thinly sliced strips of pork and beef heated in a pan greased with lard over a flame. In a manner of speaking, both pork and beef bacon. Something so simple, and always agreed upon by most to be completely irresistible. After grabbing a couple of slices of the bacon, chopping them up into her bowl, and getting some of the porridge as well, Alex mixed it all up with a small spoonful of butter, and began to dig in. Again, it was such a basic meal, and yet it was something she would never trade away. It was so simple, and yet so precious. During the meal, the conversation between her father and brother eventually turned to training once again.

"So father, I was wondering if we could hold another practice session after our meal. I was hoping you could show me that counter move you told me about during your story of your duel with the warrior captain." Michael said, his desire to fight evident in how he presented himself. It was not bloodlust. It was more the inborn desire most young boys have around that age. The desire to improve their skills and stand out as warriors.

"Huh, I dunno. You might not be able to take another round of training. Maybe later. Plus, I do have to go to work. There was some talk last time of a subjugation party being sent a little south towards the Evergreen Sea to dispatch a small village of monsters that has been reportedly setting up there, and the odds are good that I am selected for it."

"But wouldn't a warm up be just the thing to get you ready for such a trip father?"

"Well, I mean it would. But I'm not so sure..." Her father was sounding hesitant to try again with Michael, but by this time another thought entered Alex's head. Her skills had probably grown a little rusty in the four years they've been made to stagnate. Seeing an opportunity, she wanted to try.

"Papa!" She said, her voice coming out a little louder than she meant to. Dialing it back, she looked to her father and saw his eyes focus on her. Taking a small breath, she continued. "I was wondering if it would be okay for me to join you and Mikey for practice today."

With this request, all noise seemed to pause at the dinner table. Not for a single minute had any of them considered letting Alex try fighting. For starters, she was only four, and had only been so for less than a week. And on top of that, she was a little on the smaller side. Of course her father would hesitate when asked to teach his daughter swordsmanship, especially with how small she seemed. But looking at her, all he could see was her begging with her upturned eyes, small and adorable. Begging to allow her to join in. Now as a man who'd seen the battlefield many times and lived through it, he could not be considered a weak minded man by any standards. But under that precious gaze, he could usually only give in after a short while.

"Urk, I'd rather not sweety. I mean, I don't think you can even hold a sword properly right now." He resisted, however he could. But Alex was determined.

"So if I can hold the sword, I can join?" She asked, fully turning up the cuteness of her gaze. As a child, she had the right asset, and with the mind of an adult, she had the right nature to use that asset. Eventually, he folded and relented to her request.

"But only if you manage to actually hold the sword for more than a few seconds."

"Yay!" Ecstatic at the opportunity to fight again, Alex quickly finished up her meal, brought her bowl into the kitchen and to the washing bin, and then ran up to her room. "I'm gonna go change real quick!"

"Oh boy. What have I done now..?" Her father could only scold himself out loud as the sound of his daughter excitedly preparing to fight entered his ears.

"Well father, you did begin to teach me around her age." Michael offered, hoping to somewhat ease his father's apparent worry.

"Yes, but you're going to eventually take my place. Plus, I already know that you and your sister can utilize magic, and have already been taught to do so. But we don't even know what her Arcane Aspect is yet, let alone if she even could." Yes, here magic was a vital portion of being a knight. But that was an explanation for another time.

"It's fine father. Once she realizes the sword is too heavy, she'll likely do her cute little pout, complain a little, and then sit off to the side like always and watch us."

"Oh, alright then." Sebastian could only give a small smirk as he thought about it.

Outside, waiting for Alex to come were her father and brother, both sporting a similar tank top and pants for fighting practice. Meanwhile, she was wearing a similar top, albeit blue instead of beige, with a skirt and shorts to match underneath. It was an odd appearance to want to fight in, but they didn't question it. In front of Alex, a simple straight sword lay on the ground. It wasn't a weapon Ruby was wholly familiar with, instead having sacrificed basic training with such in order to learn and utilize her scythe better, but it wasn't one she was completely unfamiliar with either. Regardless, it was a good weapon to start with.

"Alright then. Alexandra, I want you to pick up that sword, draw and, and hold it up for one minute. If you can do that, I'll allow you to join your brother and I today." Her father said, arms crossed across his chest as though to display his authority.

"Right," she said, moving to pick it up.

"Come on Alex, you can do it." Michael offered some light encouragement from the side, honestly thinking it wouldn't be possible for the small girl to do so. If anything, the sword was the same size as her. It would be like holding her precious scythe again with the sheer weight.

But it wasn't a problem, not for the her right now. Feeling for her Aura, Alex allowed it to suffuse entirely throughout her body, making her feel lighter than before. Leaning down and grabbing the sword by the handle, Alex lifted it up with one hand, easily drew it from it's sheathe, and held it before her as though ready to strike. And this was done to the astonished expression on both her father and brother's faces. After a full minute had passed and Alex remained showing no sign of her arms growing tired, her father agreed to let her start training.

"Amazing. I can't honestly belive you pulled it off. But a promise is a promise. For now, I want to see how well you can do. Stand over there and ready yourself. I'm going to have you fight with your brother for a practice match. But first, hand me that sword. I don't want you two killing each other, so use this practice one instead." After tossing her a wooden sword, Alex set herself up a fair distance from her brother and turned to face him. After the two kids had taken up their positions about twenty feet from one another, he continued. "The rules here are simple. No aiming for the face, and no trying to seriously harm each other. And if you successfully manage to strike one another, please let it be in a place the bruise won't be visible. If your mother saw that I let you two beat each other up, I think she'd be the one to kill me."

After giving a wry little grin, Alex tried to put herself into some sort of stance. Granted, her total amount of time training with a sword accounted to the amount of time she was jokingly using Jaune's Crocea Mors in the practice hall (which accounts for not very much), Ruby still knew enough. Spreading her feet slightly, gripping the blade with both hands, and holding before her towards her brother, she prepared to fight him head on. When she did this, Michael's eyes widened slightly.

"Wow Alex. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say you've had practice." He gave serious praise to how his little sister was able to enter a basic fighting stance despite apparently having no training. Her father also didn't miss this.

"Huh, she might just end up being some sort of prodigy with a blade. Well, we can only tell so much before she actually tries fighting though." After saying his piece, Sebastian motioned to Michael to prepare himself. After taking a stance as his father had taught him, he gave a small nod back. Once the two seemed set, Sebastian called the start of the battle. "Alright you two, fight!"

At once Michael kicked off the ground and started sprinting towards Alex. For him, finishing this fight quickly would be best, especially as he didn't want to harm his precious little sister too much. His intention was to knock Alex's wooden sword out of her hand, tackle her to the ground, and pin her with his practice sword to her throat. They were practical maneuvers his father had taught him, and they allowed one to finish a fight with the least damage to either side. It was the perfect sort of technique to utilize here.

But Alex didn't flinch at all. When Michael grew close enough to swing at her blade, she finally moved. Lowering her sword's position to interfere with the opposition's swing, Alex lightly flicked the blade to her left, knocking away Michael's incoming strike. It was a little shaky, especially with her lack of knowledge on the finer methods of sword based combat, but it worked fairly well. Especially with her Aura enhanced strength. After deflecting his attack, Alex then aimed for a swing at his chest.

Michael, honestly not having anticipated much from his sister, was thrown off for a second. But his father's training kicked in, and he managed to duck below his sister's strike and put some distance between the two of them. After that, he didn't dare try to charge in again. He didn't know how she could do that, or where she may have possibly learned such a thing, but he knew that his sister wasn't just an average little girl with a sword in her hand.

"Father, are you sure you've never taught her how to use a sword?" Of course this question was justified, especially since this girl less than half his age just knocked away his strike with relative ease.

"I have not." Sebastian could say, a little hint of intrigue creeping into his voice. He had no idea that his daughter could potentially be such a prodigy with a blade. If she showed even more promise than this, then it wouldn't be a stretch to say she could possibly even enter knighthood. Especially with how there were plenty of females in the various orders nowadays. Such prodigious skill would definitely serve the kingdom well.

Carefully considering his next move, Michael barely moved an inch. As for Alex, she wasn't quite so patient. Wanting to capitalize on her momentum, she kicked off the ground this time. And unlike Michael before her, her steps were like a gale force wind. Swift and aggressive. With the kind of speed nobody there save Alex herself expected, she moved before him sword in hand. Gripping the handle with both hands and positioning the blade down, Alex drove the blade into the ground, launching herself high into the air. After spinning forward like a wheel, she intended to bring her blade down onto her brother. It was only when she was just a foot away that her father's blade intercepted her on her descent.

"Whoa!" He could only exclaim as he took the brunt of her attack with his own blade. It had more weight to it than he expected, but he stood firm. After she stopped, he confiscated the sword from her hands. "Alexandra, what were you thinking? I don't know how you learned to use a sword like that, but any further and you could have seriously injured your brother."

"Is his Aura really so weak though Papa?" Alex asked, unsure of what the issue was. One's Aura would easily protect them from this level of damage, even if it was the Aura of a ten year old child. If her sword had been metal, that would have been an entirely different story all on it's own.

"Huh? Aura? Sweetheart, anyone would be injured if they took a direct blow from that. It didn't matter how strong their body was. That sort of attack, while simply amazing, would definitely have broken your brother's shoulder if you'd connected."

This made only a little sense to her right now. To Alex, her memories as Ruby gave her the impression that any warrior should have had their Aura unlocked. But yet her father started talking as though there was no such thing. So was it possible that only Ruby knew what it was? And how would that be possible? Surely somebody here must have learned how to use it, right?

"Oh, I'm sorry Papa." Alex immediately switched to apologizing. "And I'm sorry Mikey. I didn't mean to try and hurt you," She said, slight tears welling up in her eyes.

"No, no. It's fine Alex, see? I'm unharmed. Plus, I was planning to block you anyhow, so it's completely fine." He started, a little panicky after seeing his sister's tears begin to form. Lightly patting her on the head, he continued on. "Hey, it's all fine. If anything, I'm amazed by how well you could fight. You almost looked like a pro with how you did that leap."

"Yeah. I'd wager she holds the Aspect of the Wolf. Or at the very least, maybe the Aspect of the Panther. I've never seen such a wild method of fighting."

"I'm sorry Papa, but what is an Aspect?" This was Alex's first time hearing this term. So of course the confusion she felt would be considered normal.

"Oh right. You haven't learned about them yet, have you? Well, you know about magic, right?" At this word, Alex's ears perked up slightly, and her eyes widened. Magic? Actual magic? "An Aspect is a person's nature. It's a representation of how they grow. Some are better for situations like combat than others. Some are better for information gathering. And some are better for day to day things. But everyone is born with one, sometimes two Aspects. For instance, I hold two of them. The Aspect of the Wolf, and the Aspect of the Dragon. They're both very powerful Aspects rated highly among warriors and fighters. They also allow me to utilize fire magic, lightning magic, and frost magic." To show her, her ignited a small flame in the palm of his hand.

"As for me Alex, I have the Aspect of the Wolf too. It allows me to use frost magic as well!" Michael said, holding out his chest proudly.

"You see, an Aspect also gives insight as to how one will grow in the future. Certain Aspects that work better for fighting are those like the Dragon, the Wolf, or the Bear. Those types tend to note that one will grow faster in regards to physical strength or endurance. And there are many others. With how you fought there, it wouldn't be a surprise me if you had one of those stronger Aspects."

"Wow!" At this point, Alex's eyes had shifted from the sharpened steel of battle, into the wide-eyed bright silver of innocence. "So how do I find out what I can do? What's my Aspect?"

"Well once every year the church will gather all of the children who are of seven years of age and test them to find out what Aspect they may have. They actually hold it about a week after your birthday yearly. You can take the exam and see what your Aspect is when you reach seven years old. You can even enroll into the Royal Academy of the Arcanists if you feel that you're suited for learning magic. Your brother decided to follow in my steps and become a knight, and your sister wanted to follow in your mother's steps and become a gentle lady."

"Yeah, that sounds so amazing!" Alex was completely excited. She could use magic here. No Dust, actual magic! It was so amazing. "I wanna get stronger for that day and learn magic!"

"Well, I don't think you should train with your brother any more. While he's rather sturdy already, I don't forsee him being able to walk away from your little wild style. I'll practice with you."

"Really?!"

"Yup. So," he said, tossing the wooden sword back at her. "Come at me however you want. I'll try to help you grow as well as you can."

And so for the next three years, Alex studied properly under her father's tutelage. When she grew to the age of five, a home tutor was hired to provide her with basic instruction and education. While she sweated it out with her father and brother in the mornings, and studied properly through the noontime, she also took time at night to continuously train her Aura.

Never forgetting for even a day to practice, she would constantly invoke her Aura to tain herself when nobody was around. One thing she noticed was that here, Aura felt a lot different. Compared to Remnant, the defensive properties of Aura here formed a physical shield of sorts around her. With training, she eventually grew able to project it into a sort of proper barrier, expanding it around her person. To top it off, she felt other small differences. Before, her Aura could only enhance her abilities a bit. But here, she could better manipulate it into her limbs and senses. After some experimentation, she found that could use it to enhance her hearing and vision. On top of it all, she could increase her already fairly high mobility further, and improve her muscular strength. In game terms, it was like she could now buff herself instead of just having a small passive status boost. It really highlighted how she was not in Remnant any more. Everything was different, strange. But it still was her life, and she lived it.

And when she became seven , her moment had arrived. The week between her becoming the right age and being able to learn her Aspects had been the hardest for her to deal with. Of course her restlessness could be seen in how during her sparring sessions, she was even more energetic than usual. By now, Michael was able to properly take her high speed assault and and somewhat hold his own. Of course Alex wouldn't utilize her Aura to fight him or her father, believing it would be an unfair advantage. Of course, a few things became obvious over the years. Namely, only she really had an Aura here, and only she could make it work how she was used to. Nobody else had this ability. It was strange to her, but there wasn't much she could do to change it. It was just how it was.

The day before the test, Sebastian had decided against training his daughter to give her some time to rest and prepare for the next day. With the extra free time, she decided to read up a little more. Poking around her father's study, she looked for a book on magic. Of course she'd been interested, but now that she was close to learning about what she could do she was downright excited. She wanted to learn at least the basics to prepare herself for tomorrow. When she couldn't readily find one, she did the only other thing she could think of. She asked her father if he had one.

"Well, I'm proud that you want to learn so badly. But the test is tomorrow, so maybe you should just take some time to rest up today?"

"But Papa, I want to at least know the basics. The other kids there tomorrow might already know something and I don't wanna lose to them!" In her adorable silver eyes, Sebastian could see a little steel poking through. That fire in her eyes was likely his fault, always having had such a competitive spirit himself. Of course he eventually relented, unable to say no to her earnest request.

"Alright then. But instead of a book, I'll teach you myself."

"Oooh!"

"Yeah. I'll start by teaching you how to control the energy that comprises our magic. We call this basic energy Arcana. It exists in all living things, and is the basic component in any sort of magic." Starting his lesson, Sebastian began to lead Alex out of the house and towards the open field in the back. "Of course magic can take many forms. But the magic itself is mostly a result of three things: Knowledge, Imagination, and Will. You must have knowledge of how the world works in order to change it. You must have the imagination to envision a change. And the will power to see that change through. Do you get it?"

"Kind of," Alex said, though the confused look in her eyes betrayed her. "Can you show me?"

"Sure thing. I'll start with something simple that anyone can do. It's a basic spell called Lantern. It simply creates a small ball of light that illuminates your surroundings." Saying so, he held out his hand. "To start, try to feel the Arcana around you. Just calm your mind and focus on your hand. Then envision a small ball there, and hold that image in your head. And finally, will the energy you feel around you to form and go into that ball you envisioned. And finally, you get this," And with that, a small ball of light formed in his hand. It was maybe an inch and a half or so in width, and gave off a small amount of light only. But still, it amazed Alex to no end.

"Whoa."

"Now you try. Do what I told you, and you should be able to do it too."

"Alright." Focusing on the world around her, Alex tried to feel for this energy her father spoke of. The only thing she actually felt was the Aura around herself. And no matter how hard she focused it was all she could feel. "I can't feel it Papa."

"Keep trying. You should be able to by now."

Giving it another go, all she could feel still was her Aura. Not sure of what else she could do, Alex decided to try what she did with her Aura's protection. Willing the Aura to flow into the orb she imagined, she was met with a peculiar feeling. One that felt like a few ants crawling along her arm. But before she could determine if it felt bad or not, she succeeded in creating the light.

"Oh wow!" She was excited. It was simply amazing. Her Aura, something that anyone could use back in Remnant, was this world's magic. And she was using it. She was actually able to use magic. Not just to run fast, but to actually do something cool.

"Good job. You actually succeeded on your first try. Now sever the flow of Arcana to the light to make it disappear." Doing as he said, the light disappeared from her hand. "Now that's one of the most basic things you can do with magic. But further studies should really wait until you learn what your Aspect is. Trying to use magic outside of your natural Aspect can actually cause harm to you. It's best that you find out what you can do before trying. Promise me, okay?"

"Alright Papa. I promise to wait until after tomorrow."

"That's my girl. Who knows? You may just have the ability to go to the Arcanic Institute and learn proper magic."

For the next few hours, Alex spent her time just making and dissipating Lanterns. No matter how many times she did it, it always served to make her eyes widen in awe. But it was too simple, right? Her father did say that imagination played a key role in determining how magic was used. So maybe she could change the color? With that thought in mind, she tried to figure out _how_ she would. Maybe if she thought about a lens or a filter of sorts being in the light? So after getting rid of her current one, she thought about making a new one. This time, she tried to imagine there being a bulb of sorts around the light. A red bulb, to filter out all of the other colors. After getting a concrete picture in her head, she tried it out. She supplied her Aura, or Arcana, whichever it was to be called, to the picture in her head. And in a brief second, a new light was formed. But this one wasn't the same white light as a normal Lantern. It had more of a maroon sort of hue to it. It was fairly dark, but it was still a red light. Changing the mental image and putting it into a little more focus, the light in her hand became a little more clear. Of course a normal child might not be able to focus so well. It was her adult mentality that gave her an edge with this sort of thing.

For the rest of the day after that, Alex tried imagining new and different ways to make a Lantern. Each time, she would try to change the color, the shape, and even the size. By the time she was ready for bed, she had gotten the hang of completely altering the Lantern spell to suit her tastes. It was actually fairly easy when you got the hang of it. And tomorrow, she would finally learn what she could try next.

The next morning, Alex was awake far earlier than she normally was. Heading down to the dining area, she took a look around and saw that the light in the kitchen was on. Peeking in, she saw her mother hard at work preparing breakfast. Not wanting to bother her, Alex wandered out to the back of the house where the practice swords were kept. Picking one up, she began to practice with the basic forms her father had taught. After getting it into a rhythm, she continuously switched between them, swinging her blade around faster and faster as time progressed. Eventually, after what felt like almost an hour, she finally slowed down, eventually coming to a stop. The sword that before was larger than her had since come to rest perfectly in her hands, and had become rather familiar. But she still yearned for her scythe. Maybe if she could ever find time and the materials, she could create a new Crescent Rose.

Though her muscles felt tense, and her blood ran like fire through her veins, Alex felt satisfied. It was this feeling that she enjoyed, this feeling of completely having ran wild with a weapon in hand was her bliss. Turning around to head inside, she could see Michael watching her from the side. Stepping forward a little, he tossed a towel at his little sister.

"About to go for the exam, and you're still swinging that thing around like crazy. You're incredible Alex. I've been learning from dad longer, and yet you're already more than a match for me. On top of it all, I heard you can make a Lantern now?"

"Uh yeah. Papa taught me yesterday when I begged him."

"Care to show me?"

"Sure. Just give me a sec." Concentrating in front of her, Alex imagined a Lantern blooming into existence in from of her. Not much later, a small rose shaped Lantern appeared before her and Michael. "See?"

"Wh-what is that? That's not a Lantern."

"Yeah it is." Alex said, looking at her brother fairly seriously. "All I did was imagine a new look for it. Just have to determine how to filter the light and change the focus." As though it were so simple, she said is nonchalantly. However, Michael could barely follow his sister's words.

"You did what? How did you make a Lantern shaped like a red flower? What did you do?"

"Mikey, I'm all sweaty here. Can I please go take a bath? I promise to explain it to you later." Alex said, trying to get out of there. She really did want to take a bath and get herself dressed into something nice. Plus, if she had to explain it, she'd have preferred the time be better for her. As in when she had less to worry about.

"Fine. It's a promise though, alright Alex?"

"Yes Mikey. I promise. Now if you don't mind, I kind of stink right now and I wanna clean up before breakfast." Moving past her older brother, Alex quickly walked toward the front. There would be time for questions later.

After bathing and changing into a black top with a black and red skirt, Alex headed in to the dining room to find breakfast ready and waiting. Taking her usual seat, she settled in and grabbed for a piece of bread when her father asked her a question.

"So, Alexandra," Sebastian began, as Alex tried to fit a piece of buttered bread into her mouth. "I hear you were practicing this morning. I'm amazed by your diligence."

"Thanks Papa," She said finishing off her piece of bread. "I woke up kind of early and felt like swinging a sword around a bit."

"Ahh, I see. And from what I hear, you can also make a Lantern of a different shape?"

"Yes...?" She said hesitatingly, not sure whether this was a bad thing or not.

"Do you mind showing me?"

"Here at the table?" After a short nod from her father, Alex did as she was asked. In front of where she sat, she made another rose shaped Lantern appear. It gave off a gentle crimson light.

"Amazing. How did you learn to do this?"

"Uh, you said that magic requires three things. And among those, you said that imagination allows you to envision a change, and will to see that change through. So I wanted to imagine that the Lantern was red and looked like a flower."

"And you figured that all out on your own?" After she nodded, he continued. "So how did you envision the change of color?"

"Uhm, well... I imagined a red glass ball around the light. To make the light that shines through appear red."

"Oh my," her father exclaimed, surprise evident on his face. "It's amazing how you figured that out by yourself. What gave you the idea?"

"The stained glass windows in the cathedral. The light that comes through those is so pretty. I thought maybe with a dome of glass like that, I could change the color of this light."

"I feel that today is going to yield some interesting results at the test."

"I know father. I can't wait to see my little sister be a Wolf."

"You know," began Elizabeth. "Alex can always end up more like her big sister than her big brother.

"Pfft. With her skill with a sword, Alex would definitely make a better Wolf than she would a Dove. She's much better at fighting than supporting."

"There's nothing wrong with having the Aspect of a Dove. Specializing in support and illusion magic is not a bad thing." Elizabeth said, almost insulted by her brother's tone.

"Yeah, but Alex definitely isn't some little bird. She's definitely a warrior. Have you seen her fight?"

"Honestly, Michael does have a point," Sebastian interjected. "Alexandra does fight in a way I've never seen before. With how she leaps around and remains so agile with a blade in her hand, it'd be hard to imagine her as anything but a Wolf or Panther."

"Dear, I don't believe we should be speculating right now. It could be that Alexandra has more than one Aspect. And it could be that she has none of those Aspects. We'll find out later. For now, just finish your breakfast. We have a big day before us." Admonishing her family so, Marriene went back to her own food too. She was not wrong. It was always a big day when a family got to see what Aspect their child had. And in a few years, they would be there again for the twins.

After the family finished their meal, they confirmed the time. With the hour approaching, they all left their house and began to make their way to the city's central cathedral. A large, highly decorated building, the cathedral was considered one of the grandest pieces of architecture in the country, second only to the castle. It was here that worship of the Gods was performed, and ceremonies of blessings and such were done. It was a grand building, and as always, it was host today to the Aspect Exam.

When she entered the massive structure, Alex could see a central podium of sorts. There, she saw two crystal orbs set beside each other on two different stands. Behind the orbs sat five elderly men, each dressed in luxurious and well decorated robes. Several of the rows in the front were occupied solely by the children here for the exam, while the remaining seats were taken up by the families and spectators. Saying bye to her family, Alex made her way over to the seats with the rest of the children her age. Considering how often she had trained, on top of her home being located toward the edge of the city, she was not very familiar with others of her age group. She didn't recognize a single person here. Not that she could if she wanted to, as she'd never seen any of them before. After a while, one of the men stepped forward to speak.

"Today, we are gathered as we are every year to celebrate the passing of this generations young ones to their seventh years, as well as learn of the destinies granted to them by the Gods. Today, we ask that those in attendance grant their well wishes to these children as they take the first step into the rest of their lives. Now, would any of you like to come forward first?"

Wanting to hold back a bit and observe what the others got, and what constitutes for a good Aspect or not, Alex remained in her seat for the time being. But it did not take long. A brave soul stood up, and began to walk to the central area.

"Very good. Now please, place a hand onto each of these orbs. The one to your left shall show you your first Aspect. The one of the right shall show you your second Aspect, if you have one. Now please child, if you will." Listening the the elderly gentleman, the boy placed a hand onto each orb. While there was no reaction from the one on his right, the left orb began to glow. After settling on a light violet color, she could hear the voice of the elder call out. "Your Aspect is the Aspect of the Cat!" At this call, the boy visibly showed signs of relief. So it seemed that his Aspect was not one of the worse ones, and may even be a decent one. Before he left, the elder handed him a scroll of paper. "These scroll can read your Aspect and define it for you. They will explain the points and traits of your Aspect for you. Now, would another step forward?"

For a while this continued. There were a surprising number of kids here. A rough estimate put the number at around a hundred and fifty or so. Alex couldn't quite get a good grip on the number as she was more focused on the results of the people before her. Some got interesting Aspects, while others hung their heads after being told theirs. It seemed a mix of those who got the ones they wanted.

The next child up now was a young blonde girl. She was sightly bigger than Alex was, and was dressed like a fancy nobleman's daughter. Probably from a wealthy noble family. While her father held rank, he was technically not a noble, so she didn't understand that life. But regardless, this girl's results soon caused a commotion.

"Your first Aspect is the Aspect of the Tiger! Your second is the Aspect of the Hawk! Oh my, there's something else. A third Aspect. The Aspect of the Lion! Oh my, what a rare genius to have here today!" Apparently she had three Aspects, something that was supposed to be nearly impossible. But it seems that people like that are born every so often, and end up generally becoming powerful figures. And the Aspects she got seemed pretty powerful too. After the girl accepted her scroll and gave off what seemed to be a small gesture as though to say 'it's to be expected', she exited.

The next one to go up was a young man who caught Alex's eye. The boy was dressed in a pristine white blouse that he wore with a certain grace that made Alex assume he was of high birth. His deep black hair was tied into a short ponytail, and his eyes looked like emeralds. But they also seemed to hold a strange look. One that appeared to Alex to be loneliness or sadness. She didn't really get a good enough look to tell. But when he placed his hands on the orbs, another shocked announcement was heard.

"Your first Aspect is the Aspect of the Dragon!" At this, a audible gasp could be heard running through the people assembled. It was one of the rarest Aspects, and one of the most sought after. Those with it often were peerless warriors. "Your second Aspect is the Aspect of the Bear!" Two great Aspects. Even compared to the girl who had three from before, the ones he had made him no less successful than her today. Taking his scroll, the young man left the area. After he took his seat again, Alex stood up.

"Would the next child step forth?" Finally, it was her turn. Walking towards the orbs, Alex could feel a sense of anxiety welling up in her. This moment would determine how her time in this world would be. This moment would define her. And she felt every bit of pressure that entailed. While she was outwardly calm, inside she was nervous as she could possibly be. But her family was watching, and she didn't wish to disappoint them. After taking a small breath, she placed her hands upon the orbs as the previous children did before her. Almost immediately something seemed strange. The orb to her left glowed a strange pink color, tinged around with green. Inside, she could see a little symbol, the symbol of her Aspect. It was a small figure that resembled the profile of a person, but it had what appeared to be butterfly wings attached to it's back. The other one was just as strange. It was a deep blue and it showed something like a wolf's head, but it showed multiple of them. According to her father and brother, the Aspect of the Wolf only had one.

"Your Aspect is, uhm... Well, what _is_ your Aspect? I've never seen these before." Turning to the other men behind him, the elder gave a look of query. And yet none of them showed any understanding either. Turning back to Alex, the elder gave a short bow. "I beg your pardon, but it seems you have an Aspect none of us recognize. If you may give us a minute to call for the archpriest." After saying so, the man turned and began to hurriedly leave.

What did he mean when he said that she had two Aspects they'd never seen before? Were they uncommon or something? Maybe they were new Aspects? Her Curiosity also held a great deal more anxiety than she began with. What if these two unknown Aspects were bad ones? Looking around at the people behind her, she could see her family. Her mother and sister held worried expressions, her father held one of confusion. Her brother was the only one giving her a small smile, as if to encourage her. Looking towards some of the other kids, she saw a diverse number of expressions. Some showed a look of confusion to mirror hers. Others appeared to be surprised, while some showed faces that appeared to be envious of her. And yet there were still those who showed a smug look, as though they thought she had acquired the most useless Aspect possible and they were making themselves feel better over it. The only people unaffected were those who'd gotten good Aspects, including the black haired young boy and the blonde girl from earlier. While she looked uninterested, the boy stared at her blankly, as though he were simply observing and analyzing what would happen next. It was a strange look.

Turning back around, Alex saw the elder who left coming back with a new gentleman. This one seemed older than the elder, and yet he held an air of authority and presence far greater, as though to reflect his great experience. Looking at Alex, he spoke.

"Child, would you please place your hands upon the divination orbs once more?"

"Y-yes!" Doing as she was asked, Alex again placed her hands down and saw the same things from before. The elder, no, the archpriest took a good long look at the results. He remained silent for a long minute, just looking at the orbs and nothing more. After another minute, he broke the silence.

"You have two very interesting Aspects child. And two very rarely seen ones. Your first Aspect would be the Aspect of the Fae. It is an Aspect which has a focus on healing and nature, while associating your growth with agility and speed. The Fae were beings embodied magic back in days when our ancestors knew nothing of the arcane arts. To bear their Aspect is indeed rare. And your other Aspect, it is the Aspect of the Pack. It is an Aspect that embodies the spirit of the hunt, and of teamwork. It is an Aspect that emphasizes leadership and capability. To have received these two Aspects together, I can only say that you have a strange fate child." Finishing what he was saying, he handed the scroll to Alex, the scroll that would explain everything to her. "I look forward to what the bearer of the Fae's Aspect can do. Your future will be a great one indeed. Would you tell me your name, child?"

"Uh, I-I'm Alex! Alexandra Crux Du Noire!"

"Hmm, Alexandra. 'Protector of man', is it? An interesting name for one of your potential. I look forward to your growth very much, young Alex." As he gave a small bow to Alex.

"Y-yes sir!" Alex said, bowing her head to the archpriest.

When he was finished speaking, the people gathered immediately began to speak. Looking back at the crowd, Alex could see expressions very much different from what she saw before. Shock, disbelief, envy. And yet only on four of those faces in the crowd could she see anything different. Her mother, father, ", and sister all wore an expression of support. Unsure of what would happen next, she quickly descended and made her way back to her family. Instead of those kids she did not know, she would rather be around her family. Weaving through the crowd as quickly as she could, Alex found her family, and together they left the now loud and restless cathedral. After quickly making their way home, the family took a seat at the table. Looking at "Alex," Michael was the first to speak.

"So, what does the scroll say Alex? What's your Aspect's specialties?"

"Patience, Michael. Your sister will check it when she's ready. Now Alexandra, we won't pressure you. Open it when you're ready. We're here for you no matter what it says."

"Right. Thanks Mama. I'll open it then." Unfolding the scroll, Alex saw characters begin to form on the page, as though it were invisible ink being revealed by water. As the words and such came into focus, she began to check through them. "'Aspect: Fae. Magical Affinities: Wind, Plant, Lighting, Healing, Protection.'"

"Wow, so many." Michael said, openly impressed by the number of things his sister could use. "Even including the Healing and Protection magic, you have Wind, Plant, and Lightning. I don't know much about the others, but Lightning is really strong."

"Now, now. Let your sister finish. Continue Alexandra, if you want." Her father gently nudged her to proceed, so she did just that.

"'Growth: Speed, Agility, Wit. Traits: Strong Mind, Nature Affinity. An Aspect that embodies nature and a wild side with a personality that has a strong mind and a trickster's heart.' That's what it says for The Fae."

"Interesting," Her father said. "So it seems like a supportive Aspect, and yet still capable of fighting or fleeing if necessary. And what does the other one say?"

"Uhm, 'Aspect: Pack. Magical Affinities: Alchemy, Enforcement. Growth: Wit, Reflex, Strength. Traits: Natural Leader, Strategist, Cooperative, Dominant. An Aspect that embodies leadership, with a personality to take the lead and pave the way for others to follow.'"

"Whoa, that sounds so cool!" Michael suddenly shouted, startling Alex. "But what's with Alchemy? Isn't that mixing potions and medicine?"

"Not necessarily son. You see, Alchemy has two forms. The Alchemy you know of is more of a study of herbs and chemicals, whereas the magic of Alchemy is converting one thing into another. It's an uncommon magic, and so it may be hard to find someone who can teach it to you."

With this new information, a lot of question weighed on Alex's mind. What should she do now? The archpriest, he said that her Aspects could be considered fairly rare. But she didn't know what kind of use they would be in a fight. What could she do to try and become stronger? While the family sat around the table discussing her Aspects, they suddenly heard a knock coming from the door. As the first to get up, Alex went to answer it. When she opened the door, she found a kindly looking man, probably in his thirties or so, standing in front of the door, with a few others behind him. They all wore some sort of fancy clothing, so one could tell they weren't your average people.

"Uhm, hello."

"Hi there. Are your parents home, perhaps?"

"Yes, we are." Sebastian stepped into the doorway just as the question came. He took a second to sie up the man in front of him. "And might we know your name?"

"Yes, my apologies ser Du Noire. I am Augustus. Augustus Bren De Orleans. The ones behind me are my associates. We are from the Royal Academy of the Arcanists, and we would like to invite your daughter to study there."

"The Academy, huh? While that is a great opportunity, our family is not so well off that we can send her there so easily." It was a good chance, and Sebastian knew it. But he also knew what the tuition was like from what he heard on his job, and he knew that he would be hard pressed to pay such an amount for the next several years. It pained him to reject such a chance for his daughter, however.

"Oh no ser, you misunderstand me. We were present when her Aspects were announced, and we hold a great curiosity for what she could accomplish. We are willing to offer a full scholarship for her to attend. Room and board will be provided, and the dorm even has meals included. With her being such a rare child, we're more interested in cultivating her growth rather than receiving some money." The man, Augustus, said. "And anyhow, I am the current chairman of the academy. I find it would be no issue to allow such an exceptional child to study there. Of course she would have to take the entrance exams like all others, but I have high hopes for her."

"Really?!"

"Yes. So how about it, Alex? Wanna come to my school?"

"Well," Sebastian began, looking down at his daughter. She looked so excited at the opportunity that he couldn't hold her back. "She can go and take the exam."

"Alright then. The exams for this year's entrance will be held in a fortnight at the academy grounds. I hope to see you there."

'Oh, you will,' thought Alex. This was a chance. A chance to become stronger. Strong enough to be able to fight against monsters like her father does, and like how she used to. And this was only her first step.

* * *

 **Hey there, Dravyn here.**

 **First let me say that this is simply something I'm putting up because I wrote it to break my writer's block. I'm just putting it here to see if anyone finds it entertaining. As for Red Queen: Crusade, the drive with those files was left behind due to certain circumstances (namely, I grabbed the wrong backpack). For now, I can only apologize for the delay. The updates should come in about a day or two for TRQ: Crusade.**

 **For now, any comments you'd have on this would be nice. Trying to write this story for a friend, and any advice would help. Thanks!**

 **And again, sorry for the delay with everything else. I have no words to express how stupid I feel.**

 **Well, Dravyn out!**


	2. Re: Magic

The night after she learned of her Aspects, Alex immediately wanted to test it out. Of course when she thought about it for a minute, she had long since been using the magic she was suited to. Projecting her Aura around her for defense, as well as bolstering her physical abilities both fall within the realm of the Fae and the Pack's Aspects respectively. It was strange to find out that her capabilities here matched up somewhat with what she'd always been taught as a huntress. Just another thing she could say was going right since coming here.

That was all fine though, but she wanted to try something else. She had no actual idea how to try and use plants, lightning, or alchemy, so attempting those three types were off the table of possibility. Healing would require her to be injured, so that was as well. And with her already able to use protection and enforcement, that left only wind to practice with. But the question was how to go about it?

If she tried what she'd done before, it may work. But how? Should she focus on the airflow and will her Arcana to alter it? Or would she have to make a mental image, despite air itself not being wholly visible? It was a conundrum she had to solve if she were to continue. If anything, she could simply try from the basics. Closing her eyes and clearing her mind, she began to try and feel for the air around her. The feel of the gentle breeze against her skin, the scent of grass and nature, and the whisper of the wind as it passed by her ears. She allowed herself to be immersed in all that the wind brought her. But what should she feel for now? Arcana in the wind? Or should she try to manipulate it with her own? And now how should she go about it?

Trying for something simple, Alex attempted to create her own breeze. Plucking and picking up a few blades of grass, she held them in her hand and began to imagine a small gust picking them up and spinning them. The image she held was one of a small tornado, just big enough to fit in the pal of her hand. But no matter how much she concentrated, and how much she poured into the image, she couldn't quite produce it. Something was missing, but what?

Thinking back to what her father had taught her, magic had three basic components. First was one's knowledge. And Alex knew that she likely was more informed about the science behind airflow than most of the people around her. The second thing she would need was imagination. The things she had seen and done definitely gave her a broader view of the world around her, and also allowed her to see that world in a vastly different manner. And the last was will. And right now, her will should have been enough to move the wind. So what was it?

Trying something new, Alex attempted to change the idea. Instead of trying for a gust, she instead put the idea of vectors into her mind, simplified by the shape of an arrow. Focusing on this image, and with the idea of wanting to push the grass out of her hand, she tried again. This time, her hand was met with a slight breeze. The result that was one blade fell out of her hand, and in the direction she wanted. A little surprised by her success, she thought that maybe it was the idea behind it that she couldn't grasp. This time, instead of imagining a tornado in her hand, she imagined two arrows spiraling up. Focusing what she could into that image, Alex hoped in her heart that it would be enough. Lo and behold, she was met with a few of the blades almost jumping out of her hand. It was quick enough to jolt her.

Perhaps it was that she truly did lack the capability. There may have been more to the basics than she thought. Thinking back on her practice with altering the Lantern's basic properties, she realized that the more simple something was, the easier it was to eventually do. Imagining a light bulb around it to change the color worked almost immediately, but it took her a few hours to actually get the right hue she was thinking of. And that's discounting how long she spent trying to just change the shape.

It almost disappointed her to not be able to pick up magic instantly. She'd hoped that maybe she could be an instant expert just be trying. But if it were that simple, what would stop the children from simply trying to roast their parents when they threw a tantrum? So perhaps it would take more practice. And so she did. For a few hours, she tried moving the air as much as she could. Eventually, she was able to produce the desired effect to a noticeable degree. At the very least, she could reliably blow up more than just a blade or two of grass. However, a gentle breeze was not something that would allow her to fight more in the future. Thinking about it logically, wind was not as good as something like fire or frost for causing trauma to the body directly, nor was it as good as say lightning at maybe causing internal damage. No doubt there were techniques to make blades of wind, or something similar, and she needed those.

The more she thought of it, the more she realized it became an issue of what she knew more than anything. Most kids would likely think something like 'If I do X, then Y will happen'. It was probably that sort of thinking that limited their magic. But Alex was different. With a strong understanding of advanced sciences compared to anyone else around her, she was in a situation where she could go further with her magic than almost anyone. And whether or not she knew or admitted it, she was in a strong position. But it would be up to her to figure that out and work on it.

But her knowledge also was a double edged sword for her. If the kids thought the way previous described, then Alex would think more like 'If X doesn't happen, then Y can't happen'. Unlike others who only thought about the effect of the cause, she thought more about the cause itself. Perhaps what limited her in the initial phase is that it was hard to let go of the belief that "It's a natural phenomena and I cannot control it on a whim." With Dust, it was as simple as add Aura and make things go boom. But for her, she had to find it in herself to hold the same belief that everyone else had. That magic could make that idea of hers exist, make it real.

"I can do this," she began to tell herself. Right now, she wanted to make a blade of wind. Something simple, that could cut an enemy from a distance. "I can do this." She repeated that phrase several times. Focusing on the image of a crescent moving in one direction, she tried to create it, all while keeping her mantra going. But no such luck. After trying for nearly an hour and exhausting herself, she decided to quit for the night and try again later. As the old saying goes, 'Vale wasn't built in a day', and she was pretty sure magic was the same. Heading inside, Alex changed herself into some clothes more appropriate for sleep, and crawled into her bed. She had two weeks. Two weeks to figure out how to use some sort of magic. There was a gut feeling that if she couldn't at least do this much, she would never be able to make it into the academy.

* * *

It was now two weeks later, and Alex was on her way to the academy's testing grounds with her father. She was so excited that she had awoken far earlier than normal, and remained awake since. But she didn't mind. She was completely and entirely ready for the exam, and held onto the highest hope that she would pass. Of course she didn't actually know what the exam entailed, but that didn't discourage her. She was more than confident that with her current intelligence and understanding, she would be able to figure it out when the time came.

Reaching the academy, the first thing Alex saw was a grand building, rivaling even the splendor of the Great Cathedral. The architecture was distinctly Gothic in design, something that stood out to her among all of the other buildings she'd seen here. It served to make the place seem more... mystic. In front of the building was a man standing around. He looked well dressed, like some sort of professor. When her father and she walked up, he spoke.

"Are you here to take the entrance examination, young lady?" He was polite, charming, and gentle. Mostly what Alex expected of someone in the position of staff or faculty.

"Yes." She replied, calm and collected. She was ready, and she was by no means as anxious as she was when she first went to find out about her Aspect, though a little bit of that was here. This was simply a test. The results were not set in stone, and she would be able to challenge whatever they set before her with her full strength.

"Alright then. Please follow along your right until you reach the practice fields. There, you should see the other examinees. Unfortunately, parents cannot follow them." The man said. When he saw the worried look in Sebastian's eyes, he added some more. "My apologies, but a while ago we had an incident where some parents attempted to harm other examinees who they thought would impede their children's chances. This is merely a precaution, and we have several of our best professors on standby to act in defense of the children. You have my word that she will be safe, ser."

"All right then," Sebastian said, still sounding unsure. He was worried for his daughter's safety, but it wasn't like he could protect her forever. Next year, Michael would be heading off to school for future knights. He very well couldn't always act like a papa wolf toward his children. Gently, he pulled Alex into a hug. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. If anything happens, I'll be nearby."

"All right Papa," she said as she gave him a big hug in return. "I'll get accepted. I promise you."

"I know you will. Go get 'em Alexandra. Show them how the daughter of a wolf fights!"

"But Papa, if I hurt the other students, wouldn't that get me kicked out?"

"I know, I know. I was just trying to encourage you." Sebastian gave a sheepish grin to his daughter. "Now, get going."

"Uh huh!." With that, Alex headed in the direction pointed out by the man from before. Making her way along the side of the school, she eventually saw a large crowd of people. A very large crowd. With a little bit of focus, she could see that they were all her age. The number of kids here shocked her! There weren't even a fraction of this number back when she had taken the Aspect Exam. Perhaps these were hopeful applicants from across the country? That might actually explain the number here today. She'd heard each major city and town had a church which could perform the Aspect Exam. But she doubted there were enough qualified instructors to teach in that many schools across the country.

Falling in a little toward the back, she couldn't even see the anything due to the kids in front of her being taller than her. It was at this time that she cursed her slow growth. Normally, her size was an advantage in a fight with her father and brother, especially as it facilitated her highly agile style of combat. But when it came to crowds like this, she hated it. Focusing her Arcana to her ears, she tried to find the sound of an instructor. Hunting and picking out through the crowd the voice of someone who wasn't a child was actually easy, especially considering the difference in pitch.

"Excuse me! Calm down children! The examination will begin soon! If we could just have you make your way over here to the field where we will divide you by specialty!" It sounded like they were about to start soon. Looking over to the field, Alex saw a few signs posted around. Support. Attack. Defense. Utility. These four signs were spread an equal distance apart. If she had to hazard a guess, it would be that they indicated what sort of magic one wanted to/ could use. But what about her, who's Aspects allowed her to use all of them? It was going to be confusing.

After the students had mostly already divided themselves, only a few were still around her. About twenty or so students who seemed to have not decided on what they should choose. However, Alex wasn't like them. It wasn't that she couldn't choose, but it was more like she wanted to be classified as all of them. Walking towards the man who spoke up earlier, one wearing a similar outfit to the man who stood in front of the academy, she asked him a simple question.

"Uhm, excuse me! What if we don't want to classify ourselves like that?" She said, pointing to the signs and the students who had moved from before. The man looked slightly amused, but then smiled gently to her and gave a response.

"Are you saying that you won't classify yourself as an attacker, defender, utility, or a support type magic user? What sort of magic will your Aspects let you use?" It was likely that it was a requirement based on your Aspects, but she wasn't too sure. Either way, she listed them off.

"My Aspects are The Fae, and the Pack. My Magic affinity is with Plants, Lightning, Wind, Healing, Protection, Enforcement, and Alchemy." While she was listing them off, the man's eyes grew wider with each one. But she didn't stop there. "I mean, I can fit into any of those categories. But just limiting myself to one seems dumb. I want to be able to learn them all."

"Y-young lady, w-what was your name again?"

"Alexandra. Alexandra Du Noire."

"You are the spec- no, I shouldn't say that here." The man began to quietly mumble for a second before he continued. "Well, normally we would divide students according to their preferred course of studies in order to meet certain quotas for admission, as well as test them mostly on what they'd prefer to study. But our academy also allows one to have a flexible curriculum, meaning you can choose what you wish to study within your chosen curriculum. But even with such potential, you'd still have to-"

"Oh Merquis! How's the exam going so far?"

"Chairman!" The man quickly lowered his head slightly to the man who had just arrived. Looking back, Alex saw Augustus, the man who'd invited her here in the first place. That's right, he did say he was the chairman here, didn't he? "What are you here for?"

"Just checking up here. Oh, it's Alex. How are you?"

"I'm fine mister Aug." When she said this shortening of his name, the other man flinched slightly. "I'm just confused here. I don't wanna put myself into any of these categories. I wanna learn them all." Listening to what she just said, Augustus just burst out laughing.

"I'm amazed. I can't believe a child like you exists in this world." He said while still laughing. After calming slightly, he continued on. "We have so many tests for each type that we have to divide them up. Are you willing to take a few more tests than the other candidates just to be able to enroll as everything at once?" As he said this, a smile crept up on his face. It wasn't anything happy or malicious. It was just amusement, plain and simple. Just plain old amusement at this little girl who wanted to ignore their long held system.

"Sure. I was ready for the tests to be hard anyways. What's a few more?" Alex spoke matter of factly. She didn't know what to expect so she didn't care if they said it would be more trying. She would just deal with it as it came.

"All right then," he said, his smile growing a little wider. "Let's make an exception for you then. Actually, if anyone else wants to study multiple types, you can stand with miss Du Noire here!"

"But sir-!"

"It's fine. I distinctly remember there being a precedent for this situation anyhow. Thirty odd years ago, a young man did the same thing, wanting to study everything he could. And exception was made then, and one could be made now. In fact, we should probably make this exception a rule next year. No doubt it will lead to us having many new, exceptional students in the future."

"Yes sir, I understand. Will you be staying then?"

"Sure, it sounds like fun. In fact, little Alex here has me curious a great deal as to what she plans to do for all of the tests." Still sporting an amused smile, Augustus acted less like what she thought the chairman should, and more like a whimsical teacher. He was an enigma to Alex.

"Alright then. Now, despite you being separated, there are a few tests that will be administered to all of you. We only accept one hundred new students each year. This exam will be used to rank you according to your potential and skill." As he said this, another man came up with a large crystal orb, similar to the one used at the Aspect examination. And more were brought out until there were at least ten of them set out. But they were much larger than the one used for the Aspect. "These divination crystals are different from the ones used to find your Aspect. They will measure your latent Arcana capacity. After you come up and have yours read, please take one of the scrolls we provide you. They will record your information for the exams so as to speed up the process. They will record your name, Aspects, magical affinities, Arcana capacity, and the results of your exams. Now if you would, please step forward and fall into ten separate lines before the crystals."

Following the instructions, the children all gathered into ten different lines in front of the crystals. Looking around, Alex felt uncomfortable around so many people she's never seen before. The only faces she recognized were in the line to her right. It was the boy with the black hair and green eyes who got the Aspect of the Dragon. Unlike the others who showed excitement and other such things, he looked bored, without a single care. It struck her as odd, especially since everyone here was working with the intention of getting in, and yet he looked as though this process was a pain.

The process seemed to be a little more simple than the one for Aspects. It apparently quantified one's capacity, and displayed it for the examiner. It seemed to be a fairly cut and dry system. The lowest scores she heard were around the five hundreds, whereas some of the higher scores neared nice to ten thousand. If she had to guess, the minimum with scores like these was probably somewhere around the four or five thousand range. But again, that was only her attempting to figure out this sort of stuff without enough information to back her assumptions up.

As the lines proceeded, and she grew closer, she felt a sense of urgency. While her ability to utilize Aura here was great, would it be enough compared to the others? This test was most likely the gate before which most were already selected out. Well, there wasn't much she could do. Calming herself, Alex reminded herself that it was set in stone, and that she wouldn't be able to change the outcome here.

After getting close, she saw the boy with the black hair go up to have his checked. Placing his hand on the crystal, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate silently.

"Oh my! Your Arcana Capacity is thirteen thousand four hundred and three. Amazing." His examiner looked at him with shock in his eyes. "For such a young child to already have such strength. You must certainly be a rare genius. Please, take your scroll."

Soon after, it was Alex's turn. Stepping up, the nervousness she felt at the moment peaked. Like the others before her, she placed her right hand on the orb, closed her eyes, and began to focus. She focused on the crystal, and on the Arcana she felt. And she could feel the crystal taking some of it in, almost like it was merely tasting her. It was an odd feeling, but it lasted no more than a second. And a moment later, her eyes were startled open by a shriek of excitement from her examiner.

"By the Gods, this isn't possible..." He was staring wide-eyed at the crystal and the result from it. After mumbling to himself a bit, he called over a couple of the other adults and began to discuss something with them. Meanwhile, Augustus who was watching with interest walked over.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Ahh, sir. It's nothing. There just seems to be an issue with her results, so we were going to have her tested on another." The man seemed a bit nervous when addressing him.

"What was the result, if I may inquire?"

"Well sir, it was... I mean, I don't believe you should need to worry. It was most likely an error on the part of-"

"I didn't ask what you were thinking, Merquis. I wanted to know the result. So, what was the result?" With this, Augustus's tone changed. It went from frivolous, to commanding in an instant.

"It was fifteen thousand seven hundred and twelve, sir." The man grew restless. "Sir, that's not the capacity of a child. That's the capacity of someone who's been studying for several years. It's not possible."

"Alright then. So you were going to retest her, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Then do it. Use the crystal right there," he said, pointing towards the one in the line to his left. "I'm curious."

"Yes sir. Right away sir. Now, if you would child?" Complying, Alex followed him and repeated the process. Placing her hand on the crystal before her, she again concentrated, and again she felt the same feeling. The feeling of the crystal taking from her, as though it were simply sampling her. And again, the examiner made the same expression. "It's the same."

"That settles it then." Grabbing one of the scrolls, he passed it on to Alex. "Here you go Alex. Hang on to this scroll. It'll help for your application process, alright?"

"Yes. Did I do something wrong mister Aug?"

"No, not really." He said, a gentle smile on his face once again. "It's the opposite really. You're amazing Alex. Your results are beyond what someone your age should be able to achieve naturally. It's telling of your potential."

"Oh." His words made her feel relief. The system wasn't broken. She really did have such strength. According to her father, one's capacity to control Arcana could improve with repeated practice and use. She'd been using her the past few years, and had a better feel for it than most due to her previous experience. One could almost reason this was to be the expected result, and yet she was still surprised. And she also felt bad. She held an unfair advantage over the others, and it made her feel guilty. As though she were stealing the spot from someone who rightfully deserved it with natural talent. But it was also possible that she would not have gotten this opportunity without that advantage. It left her unsure of whether or not she should feel happy in regards to the situation. She supposed she should simply accept it, and so she moved to where the others who'd already been tested were.

When she filed in, she could feel some stares on her. They made her feel uncomfortable. Some felt curious. Some felt envious. And there were those, in no short number, that felt hostile. It didn't take long for someone to act on that hostility.

"Hey, you!" To her right, she heard someone call out to who she assumed was to face the one speaking, Alex saw the same blonde girl who'd gotten three Aspects during the exam a couple of weeks back. Her eyes looked serious as she made her way over. Stopping in front of Alex and presenting herself in a superior manner, she spoke. "How did you cheat like that? There's no way someone so plain can be superior to me!"

"Uh..." Alex wasn't exactly used to dealing with such a situation. Ironically, it had happened the last time she went to school as well, when her then soon-to-be partner Weiss got angry and confronted her. It felt the same as then, and yet Alex was still not very comfortable at dealing with such a situation. Especially unexpectedly. "I didn't cheat."

"Of course you did." Despite her denial, the blond girl was adamant. "I have a capacity of twelve thousand five hundred and two. It's something only to be expected with my station and blood. But some commoner like you managing to be superior to this me? It's not possible! Just what did you do?!" Something about this girl's tone was seeming less like Weiss, and becoming more of a nuisance. Just listening to her prattle on, using the words 'commoner' and 'station' were starting to irk Alex. Just who was this girl?

"Oh, excuse me for not adhering to your expectations." Using every bit of adult wit she could muster, Alex began to lay the sarcasm heavily into every word she uttered. "I wasn't aware I needed the permission of some child to be stronger than she is. And I'm not even the first. Your superiority is obviously in question if there are two people above you." Even Alex was kind of surprised by how harsh she sounded. This girl must have seriously bugged her to elicit such a response.

"Wha-?!" Her reaction was simply one of shock. She, who had just claimed to be superior to Alex, was just spoken to as though she was a mere nuisance, something to be despised instead of praised. "How dare you speak to me that way? Do you know who I am?!" She was yelling by this point, a tantrum seeming not too far off.

"I dunno, the chairman's grand daughter or something? That's how this scenario usually works out anyhow..." That last part spoke as being little more than whisper, and yet Alex remained calm, sarcasm still heavy in her tone. "Well, it doesn't matter. Someone who randomly accuses others of cheating due to a superiority complex can't be taken seriously anyhow." As she began to turn away, she felt a hand grab her shoulder and forcefully turn her back around. As she turned, she saw the blonde girl's other hand starting to descend, open palmed. It seemed she was going to try slapping Alex. Of course such a thing to be stopped and countered with impunity. Especially as she was an untrained child compared to a bona fide warrior like Ruby. Before her hand to connect though, someone else grabbed it and held it back.

"Ellia." The one who stopped her only said a single word, likely the girl's name. The one who stopped her was the boy who'd had the previous highest amount. The black haired boy with the bored look on his face.

"Why do you stop me? This girl showed great disrespect to me! I was going to teach her her proper place!" The blonde girl turned to the boy and started arguing with him. It seemed they were familiar with one another, though not to an extent Alex could guess. Ignoring the blonde, the boy turned to Alex after releasing the girl's hand, and gave her a small bow.

"Please forgive my sister for her rudeness. I understand she is quick to anger, but it is no excuse. She should truly learn to behave properly, as a princess should." Those words gave Alex some pause. Piecing together it all in her head in the span of a few milliseconds, she immediately began to regret getting angry before. "My name is Lancelot. Lancelot Lac De Regulus. I am the third prince of the royal family of the country of Cernostra. This girl here is my twin sister, Ellia Terra De Regulus. Again, I ask that you forgive my sister for her accusation." Again saying so, he gave a small bow to Alex. Meanwhile, she was still registering the fact that she had told off royalty, and that one was currently bowing to her.

"Uh n-no, it's fine. Really. Of course with such results she would be suspicious. It's only natural!"

"Oh, so now you admit that I was right!?"

"Ellia, shut up. That's not what she was saying at all." Turning back to Alex, he continued. "Again, I do apologize for the situation, uhm...?"

"Oh, I'm Alexandra." Calming herself from his assurance that there is no problem, she regained her composure and continued. "Alexandra Crux Du Noire." Saying so, she gave a small bow to him in return.

"Du Noire? So your father is the Knight Captain of the Golden Lion's Vanguard, Sebastian Williams Du Noire, The Wolf Knight?" At this, his bored eyes widened slightly. It seems the mention of her family name interested him slightly.

"Yep. Papa's also helped me train with a sword for the past three years too." Holding up her right arm as if to show off her non-existent muscle, Alex gave a childish grin. "I'd like to think I'm pretty strong."

" Amazing. You're the daughter of the only knight in the recorded history of the kingdom of Cernostra to ever hold the dual Aspects of both the Wolf and the Dragon. He's been spoken of as being peerless with a blade. Even among the many nations of the world you would be hard pressed to find a single Knight capable of rivaling him." His eyes were now fully open and focused on her. Apparently, he seemed to be a fan of her father's. Who knew her dad was so awesome?

"I never knew Papa was so amazing. He was also so silly at home that I thought he was just a normal papa."

"Well that's interesting." Giving Alex a small smile, he nodded his head to her. "I sincerely hope you make it in. I would love a chance to talk with you again, and perhaps even observe the legendary Wolf Knight's techniques. Well then, I believe we're to be moving on to the next exam then?"

"Oh, right." Noticing the crowd moving in a different direction, Alex, Ellia, and Lancelot began to follow. "Hmm, do you think I could call you Lance? Your full name is pretty long after all." A surprised look crossed Lancelot's face when Alex asked this, but soon turned into a chuckle.

"What? How dare a common knight's daughter show such disrespect to our royal names?! You ought to be-!" Lancelot, wanting to avoid his sister's inevitable rant, clamped his hand over her mouth real quickly.

"My name is long, so you wish to shorten it? By all means then. Address me as Lance if you wish." He seemed amused by her lack of hesitation.

"Alright then Lance. And you can call me Alex if you don't want to use my full name either."

"I shall then, Alex." At the very least, it seemed she would be able to get along with him better than his sister. He seemed a little more sensible than she did. "Now let's go. We've more tests to perform still."

* * *

Following along with the crowd, they reached another field where it seems their second exam was to be held. Here, they gathered before an old man who seemed to be alone.

"This test is a simple one for any hoping to learn of magic. Today, you will try to use a basic spell called Lantern. Those who succeed here will proceed along to the next examination. Now, if you will, please imagine a ball in your hands, and attempt to infuse it with Arcana."

While lackluster, his explanation apparently was enough for some. Many of the kids began, holding out their hands and trying to form a basic Lantern. Some looked like they were struggling, while others were straining slightly less. Looking to her side, both Lance and Ellia had both begun to concentrate on their own. No doubt they'd probably already received some training, so it was a fact that they would succeed. Alex figured she should just speed up the process and just formed one above her head, making it a bright red. No flower shape this time, just a simple, red Lantern.

"Will this do?" She asked loud enough for the proctor to hear. When he saw what she had made, his eyes widened slightly. "Oh, uhm, was it supposed to be a normal one? If so, I'm sorry. I made it red out of habit."

"You can already change the color at your age?"

"Yeah. After my Papa taught me the basics, I just kind of tried it out and it worked." The man looked amazed. And soon nearby, a laugh could be heard. It was Augustus.

"Hah, this is wonderful. It's been a long time since I've seen such a prodigy. Only seven years old and already able to alter a Lantern's color to your will. That alone should be able to grant you entrance to the academy."

"Oh." She was surprised. She figured she'd have to work harder to impress them. Seems like it was as easy as just making a Lantern. "Then I'm good to go on?"

"Of course. It's in that direction." Augustus pointed off another way. "I'll be going to. It's time to separate the different courses soon. Good luck." With that, he went off to the next destination. Beside her, both Ellia and Lance had already finished making their own Lanterns and held them up. After receiving confirmation, the two of them began to head on. Alex just followed along.

"So Alex, how did you do that? Make the Lantern red, I mean."

"Yes, explain to us!"

"Ellia..."

"It was nothing hard. I simply imagined a red dome of glass around the light, and made it change colors."

"That simple?" Lance had an astonished look on his face. "Wow. So where'd the idea come from?"

'A light bulb' thought Alex, and yet it wasn't like she could just say that to someone who wouldn't even know what a light bulb was. She settled for the same answer she'd given her family.

"The stained glass windows in the church."

"I see. That's kind of smart. I'm going to have to try that later."

"Well of course we'll be able to do it. Especially if she could." Ellia seemed to have no warmed up to Alex yet. She wondered if the princess ever would. Then again, it wouldn't be surprising if she ended up friendless due to that personality.

"So, what do you two think the next exam will be?"

"I don't know. Probably some sort of practical application of the magic for which we chose. I was personally going to choose Offensive Magic, but after your little stunt earlier I may try for Defensive as well to balance myself out."

"Of course I'm not going to try and be crazy like the two of you. I'm going to take advantage of my three Aspects and prioritize Offensive type magic."

"Well, I suppose something else besides your tone has to be offensive." Alex quipped, eliciting a small chuckle from Lance and a pout from Ellia. After wandering a little longer, they finally came upon a spot with five men gathered around.

"Ahh, welcome children. You are the first to gather here today. Wonderful."

"Yes. Now, this exam shall be your last."

"It is simple. For your chosen course, we shall teach you the basics for a simple spell. You must perform that spell. If you succeed, that shall be the end of your exam."

"Except," said one of them. "For anyone who chose more than one course. We were informed by the chairman that an exemption to the rules was allowed this year to the applicants."

"'Especially the small one with the red hair'. I'm assuming he meant you, little girl?" Alex gave a small nod. "So, you are the one who wishes to have freedom to enroll in any course?"

"Yup."

"Alright then. We-"

"Hold up." It was Augustus again. "I'd like to administer her exam personally."

"But sir, are you certain? There's no need for you to personally come out and-"

"It's fine. It's fine! I just wanna see what little Alex can do." Saying so, he ushered her a little bit over and began. "So, we're going to start with some basics. The first is Utilitarian magic! Or so I'd like to say, but earlier you managed to change the color of a simple Lantern. That alone will allow you us waive the Utilitarian magic exam. The second will be Supportive. So for this, you must use a piece of magic that would aid you in some way, be it-"

"Uhm, can I just show you what I can do?"

"Come again?"

"For both Support and Defensive? I've got something I want to try for those two."

"Really now?" A twinkle of surprise entered his eye. He was curious about what she was planning. "You already know some magic?"

"I experimented a little with some of my free time."

"Interesting. So, what will you do for Support then?"

"Uhm, it's just easier to show you." Concentrating to a point right below her feet, Alex imagined all of the air surrounding her gathering under her feet and just compressing. Letting the air rapidly expand, she directed the air up, launching herself high into the air. The moment she hit her peak, she imagined the air again gathering below her while pushing up, slowing her descent. Before reaching the ground, she envisioned another spot where air compressed into a sort of cushion below her. After she lightly touched down, she looked at Augustus who was curious. "Well, what I did was use air to launch myself, and then slow my fall. Simple really, but I think it should suffice for Support, right?"

"Hmm, I suppose it would. Though the spells you used are actually similar to some real spells known as Rise and Feather Fall respectively. They're spells meant to allow one to traverse swiftly and safely. With some training, you may actually be able to use the real spells fairly easily. I suppose you pass for the Support. And for Defensive type?"

"Well, the thing is I'm already doing it."

"Hmm?"

"Try throwing a rock at me, if you will. Trust me, I won't be hurt if you do."

"Okay then." Snatching up a small stone from the ground, he threw it at Alex. When it got to within two feet of her, however, it stopped and bounced back, as though it'd hit some sort of invisible wall. "Ooh. You've already figured out how to project a barrier over yourself without any training?"

"Yup. The furthest I can get it out in only about two or three feet though."

"No, no. To be able to project one at all at your age is quite amazing on it's own. How have you managed to figure so much out about magic on your own?"

"I was just using the advice my Papa gave me. Magic has three components; Knowledge, Imagination, and Will Power. I simply use them how he taught me to make magic happen."

"It's quite impressive to see someone as young as you understand the idea behind magic so simply. It truly makes me wonder if you're the sort of prodigy seen only once every several generations." He was shaking his head, but not in disapproval. It was more like he was in disbelief from the talent Alex had shown so far. Then again, she did have an advantage, and that was an adult's mind set and understanding of science. "Well, you pass for both Defensive and Supportive, as well as Utilitarian. At this point, I need to see no further. I'll allow you to enroll as an Exceptional Student. We'll waive the Offensive portion for now. You can take whichever classes you want."

"Really?"

"Yup. Normally, we would hold a council among the staff members to decide the one hundred applicants who would be accepted for the year, but I can assure you that you'll be chosen. You've already displayed an impressive aptitude with magic, as well as prodigious talent with working out spells and how to create them." Cracking another smile, he continued. "It may be a bit premature, I look forward to seeing you at my school."

"Yes mister Aug!"

"Good. For now, please hand over your scroll. It should have already recorded your results and information. This will be read by the general staff to determine your ranking among the applicants." After accepting the scroll from Alex, he continued with what he was saying. "The results of whether you were accepted or not will be announced in a few weeks time by which a currier will arrive with your letter of acceptance. And I can guarantee that the prince, princess, and you shall all have a spot in the academy. After all, you three finished the examinations in near record time."

"Wow. Thank you very much mister Aug." She said as she bowed her head to him.

"Oh no, it's nothing much. Anyways, you'd better be getting back to your father. No doubt he'd love to hear the good news, right?" Nodding to what he'd said, Alex then turned and went back to the front of the school. "I swear, that girl is a wonder. Perhaps it's the influence of the Wolf Knight's blood? No, I doubt it."

* * *

"Papa! Papa!" Alex shouted the moment her father was in her view. Turning to look at who was calling him, Sebastian noticed her running up to him with a huge grin on her face. "I'm finished!"

"Already Alexandra? But it hasn't even been that long yet."

"According to mister Aug, I did really well and was the first to finish. He says my spot is almost guaranteed. So I'm gonna get to learn magic!" Alex's eyes were sparkling. She was excited, and it showed. It was almost infectious to see such a bright smile.

"I'm proud of you. Tonight, we're going to eat a feast to celebrate your success, okay?"

"Yeah!" As Alex and Sebastian were about to leave, they heard a voice calling out.

"Wait up you!" Turning around, she saw Ellia and Lance walking up, faces showing looks of satisfaction. Standing in front of Alex, Ellia began to speak. "What's with you leaving before we finished?"

"Hmm?" Alex was sort of confused, especially since Ellia seemed almost angry at her leaving first. Looking at Lance, he explained.

"Ellia was just upset that her friend happened to leave before seeing her accomplish her spell."

"Wh-what?! That is not the case! I just thought that this commoner should have been there to applaud our obvious success!" Ellia's face became slightly red at this. At that moment, something clicked in Ruby's mind. Maybe Ellia saw her as a friend, or a comrade at minimum. Especially since she likely knew there would be a divide between them and their classmates. After all, such a situation has happened in the novels she's read before. So it was likely that she already viewed Alex as a possible companion. "And this gentleman is?" Ellia said, looking up at Sebastian.

"Ahh, your highness. Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. I am Sebastian Williams Du Noire, knight of the Golden Lion's Vanguard."

"Oh my," Lance said, his eyes wide in awe. "So you are the Wolf Knight of Cernostra?"

"Yes, your highness."

"Please, no formalities necessary. Even if I'm royalty, I'm still a child. Please, just address me as Lancelot."

"I'm afraid I cannot. Decorum dictates that I show proper respect for your station." Beside Lance, Ellia was giving a small, smug grin. Alex wanted to smack it off, especially as it was pointed toward her father. But she resisted the urge.

"Then how about simply calling me Prince Lancelot? That should still fall within the limits, no?" Lance reasoned with him using a child's logic. And yet, it seemed to work.

"Alright then, Prince Lancelot."

"And you may call me Princess Ellia if you wish, ser Wolf Knight."

"As you wish. Now, if I may be so bold as to ask, what business do you have with my daughter, Prince Lancelot, Princess Ellia?" Sebastian was sort of baffled. He knew his daughter had a tendency to speak like an adult at times, ever since she'd taken that hit to the head when she was younger. But he hoped that hadn't done something to offend the royal family. If anything were to happen, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. "Did my daughter possibly do something untoward to you?"

"Not at all Ser Du Noire. In fact, I was just talking with her earlier, and she's quite interesting. It also fascinated me how she blew the exams clear out of the water. Simply put, she's amazing." Lance heaped praise upon Alex as he spoke, causing her to grow slightly embarrassed. As her cheeks turned to pink, he continued to speak. "But with you as her father, it makes perfect sense."

"You honor me, Prince Lancelot."

"Ser Du Noire, from what I've heard you are the equal of twenty knights in combat. Would that be true?" Ellia interjected with her own question. Even while she did not recognize him on sight, there was no denying she recognized his name at least. There were few in the Kingdom of Cernostra that did not recognize that name. "Are you really as strong as ten men, and can fight off a dragon bare handed?"

"Princess Ellia, I can assure you those are merely rumors that have been exaggerated a bit. I am but a simple knight in service to the crown." Sebastian said this as he bowed his head slightly. Were he judged as a knight solely by his humility, he would indeed have no equals.

"Not at all Ser Du Noire. The stories I've heard come from some of the most trustworthy teachers I know." Lance interjected, refuting Sebastian's self humbling comments. "In fact, may I make a request?"

"What might that be?"

"Would you be willing to teach me how to use the sword? I too hold the Aspect of the Dragon, and I wish to learn from one who's tread the path before me. Please," He said, lowering his head slightly. Even with Sebastian's prestige, he was not one royalty would usually bow their heads to. It was a shock. "I wish to learn from the best teacher possible, and I can think of no better instructor with the sword than you."

"Prince Lancelot, please lift your head. I would be more than honored to teach you, but I've already given my word to Alexandra to train her. As well as training my own son, taking on another would be rather difficult." With this rejection, Lance showed a slightly saddened face. Thinking on it quickly, Alex made a suggestion.

"Well Papa, can't we include him in our morning practice?" It was a simple idea, but yet it was one that threw him for a loop.

"Alexandra, it wouldn't be that easy. We can't just have the prince coming over every day to train. It would cause people to start talking."

"Well then Ser Du Noire, if I may make a suggestion then?" Lance said as he began to make his own proposal. "Would it be possible for your training exercises to be performed at the Golden Lion's main quarters? If you did so, then I could get father's permission to allow me to join in. No doubt he would be fine with me learning swordsmanship from the Wolf Knight himself."

It was a good proposal, and Sebastian knew it. Not only would it not seem out of place if the prince were to go to the head quarters of one of the country's premier knight orders to learn combat, but it would also be less suspicious. Looking down at Alex to see what she thought, he was surprised to find her being oddly calm.

"And your thoughts on this Alexandra?"

"It sounds like fun. Now I get to practice with both Mikey and Lance." She said, a beaming smile upon her face. But that's not what her father picked up on.

"No Alexandra, you must never address royalty so informally. That is disrespectful and discourteous." Turning to Lance and Ellia, he bowed his head. "Please forgive my daughter for her conduct. She is young and-"

"And so are we Ser Du Noire. And besides, I do not mind Alex calling me by such a nick name. I actually find it rather refreshing, if anything." After hearing the prince call his daughter by her nickname, and address her in a more familiar way, Sebastian's inner thoughts went from worried to confused in the blink of an eye.

"Oh, would it be possible for me and Lance to try sparring today? We can have a match before lunch!"

"I don't think that would be such a good idea. I mean, I'm sure the prince and princess are both going to be very busy today and would very much like to get some rest."

"Actually," Ellia interjected. "My brother and I have no real pressing matters to attend to today. We would actually be honored to accept an invitation from you, Ser Du Noire. And no doubt there would be fewer places safer than the household of the nation's strongest knight."

"Please Papa?" Looking again to him with her wide, upturned eyes, Alex began to lay on the pressure. And as always, she could see his willpower crumbling. Especially with the assist from Ellia causing his argument to crumble, he was soon broken down by her gaze. Just like always. It was at this time that she began to worry about what his youngest girl would be like when she reached Alex's age.

"Alright then. If the prince and princess insist."

""We do.""

Sebastian could only sigh from their quick response. As a knight, it would be dishonorable of him to be unable to play host to the royal family if necessary. As it were, however, it seems his daughter was the cause of this. Something he never would have expected, considering her small stature and less than amicable personality sometimes. He knew as her father that he should be proud of her making friends finally, but he was also worried about who she was making friends with. After all, one slip up of the tongue, and his family would see far worse than simply him losing his title and position.

* * *

When all was said and done, the group of four made their way back to the Du Noire residence. With Sebastian leading the way, the three children followed behind him. Between Ellia and Lance, Alex walked along talking with the two about their planned courses when the semester began. They managed to reach home before they knew it, time having flown past while they spoke.

"Mary, we're home. And we have guests."

"Welcome back dear. Who might our guests be?"

"Well..."

"Pleased to meet you madam. I am Lancelot Lac De Regulus, third prince of the kingdom of Cernostra." Lace said, giving small bow to Marriene.

"And I'm Ellia Terra De Regulus, third princess of the kingdom of Cernostra. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ellia followed up giving an elegant curtsey with her greeting.

Meanwhile, Marriene's face froze in a gentle smile. To others, it would appear that she was welcoming and kind. For Alex and Sebastian who knew her well, they knew she'd completely frozen up in panic. Of course she would. Royalty just walked in through the front door. After a few seconds of this, she finally regained enough composure to speak.

"Ah, forgive my rudeness your highness. I am Marriene Du Noire, and it is an honor to welcome you into my home." Bowing before the two, her face remained a perfect, gentle facade. Meanwhile, she was planning to give her husband a stern talking-to for not warning her about this in advance.

"Welcome back Alex!" Michael said, coming over. Elizabeth also came with, hoping to see her younger sister and possibly congratulate, or console her. "Who're the two kids here? Did Alex finally make some friends?"

"Michael, mind your manners. These two are the prince and princess of the kingdom." Hearing his father say that, Michael busted out laughing.

"You're saying that Alex managed to make friends with a prince? Like I'll believe something so crazy." While he loved his sister, he also knew that she was one with the social abilities of a dung covered mallet. Blunt, and somewhat hard to approach. For her to have somehow befriended the prince or princess was extremely unlikely. Elizabeth, meanwhile, showed more of an appropriate reaction. Namely, happiness that her little sister had finally made some friends of her own.

"Mikey, Papa's not lying. Lance and Ellia really are the prince and princess."

"Alex, I'm not going to believe such a story so easily. There's no way you would've made friends with them. It'd make more sense to me if you got into a fight with them."

"Forgive me, but your sister and father do not lie. I believe this ring would qualify as proof enough?" Holding up his left hand, Lance presented the ornate golden signet ring on his hand, with the lion's seal of the royal family carved into it.

"Eh?" Looking at the ring, then Lance and Ellia, back to the ring, and then to his sister, Michael's face began to pale slightly. "N-no way. Alex, how did you? Oh Gods, please forgive my rudeness, your highness!" Saying so, he quickly put himself on one knee and bowed his head. "I truly did not believe my sister could actually make friends, let alone with royalty."

"Hey!"

"It's fine. There's no need to beg forgiveness of us. It would seem strange if we were to just show up to your home out of the blue one day. You were right to question our authenticity." Lance said, more or less dismissing it. It seemed that he genuinely did not care about such a thing.

"Thank you, your highness."

"That's what you get for not believing me Mikey." Alex said, sticking her tongue out.

"Yes, yes. For now, I believe we were going to have some practice before lunch?"

"Yeah!" Now he was talking Alex's language.

"Are you truly okay with me sparring with Alex? I do not wish to harm your daughter, Ser Du Noire." Lance said, a little concern obvious in his voice. But what Sebastian said next caught him off guard.

"I'm not too worried about Alexandra, Prince Lancelot. I mean no disrespect, but I fear more for your own safety than hers."

"Ser Du Noire, while I understand that I am royalty and you have sworn allegiance to my father, to worry more for me than your own daughter seems kind of strange."

"Are there maybe issues in your family?" Ellia added in.

"No, not at all. It's, well, It's hard to explain properly. But you'll see once you fight her. Alex is... not someone I have to worry about in a fight. She can hold her own fairly well after all." Finishing there, Sebastian ushered them all to the back of the house where they usually trained. After setting Alex and Lance up, he stood back a bit. "I'll be monitoring this match so that it doesn't get too out of hand."

"Very well. Are we to use practice blades, or wooden ones?"

"Would you prefer to have the feel of a real sword, prince?"

"Either is fine. How about you Alex?"

"Hmm, I don't really mind either way. But I guess I'd go with the practice swords. They're also blunted, so they won't kill. But they still make it feel like you're using a real sword."

"Alright then." Lance turned back to Sebastian. "We'll use the practice swords."

"Okay. Let's go with that. Michael, go grab two swords from the rack." Doing as he was asked, Michael ran to the rack and returned with two practice swords, each about a meter in length, with a hand and a half hilt. Though for a child, it was still a fairly large blade, he didn't exactly have any others he could use. But he knew his daughter could wield it quite easily.

Taking hers, Alex pulled it from the sheathe and inspected the blade for damage. After confirming it was in good condition, she carefully replaced it into the scabbard, and held it down in her right hand. After checking his own blade out and nodding in satisfaction, Lance did the same and also prepared himself. Though when he saw Alex's hands, he felt a bit confused.

"Wouldn't you normally hold the scabbard in your off hand?"

"Well, I can use both of my hands pretty well with a sword. I just prefer to use it this way sometimes. Is that a problem Lance?"

"Not at all." Sporting a grin on his face, he went on. "I just didn't want you having an excuse to complain about the result." At his little provocation, Alex didn't even twitch. If anything, she titled her head a hair to the side and gave more of a confused expression if anything.

"Why would I complain about winning?" No taunting, nor any sort of teasing voice. She said it simply as though it were a fact that she would be victorious. Her certainty actually had the effect of affecting Lance.

"Are you saying you defeating me is already certain? I find that a little offensive."

"I didn't mean to be rude, Lance."

"It's fine." He waved it off. "If you're truly the daughter of the Wolf Knight, then I can expect no less from you than a good fight. You ready?"

"I'll leave the first attack to you," Alex grabbed the hem of her skirt and gave a small curtsey. "Prince." This was meant to be sarcastic. One thing she's learned is that while emotions are a powerful force in a fight, that only held true if you could control them. Lance was a child. She doubted he could do such a thing at his age.

"You'll regret it." Crouching forward slightly, Lance planted him foot hard on the ground. Raising his sword above his head and gripping it firmly with both hands, he launched himself forward. Even though he was young, The Aspect of the Dragon could not be underestimated. It was said that by the age of nine, Sebastian Du Noire could defeat a knight in single combat. If Lance also had such potential, then it would be unwise to underestimate him.

Closing the twenty something feet between them rather swiftly, he intended to end it quickly by bringing his blade down on her. But Alex didn't even move. Not a twitch or a flinch. She just stood there and watched him come at her with an amused expression. Even if it would be considered wrong, he was going to use all of his strength here. Even as level headed and mature as he was for his age, his pride would not allow him to stand there and let her mock him so openly and with impunity.

Bringing his blade down, he felt victory was certain. But before it could reach her, his sword was stopped mid air. About six inches away from her left shoulder, the one he aimed to disable quickly, his sword had run against some sort of invisible wall. No matter how much he tried, his blade would not move a single inch closer to her. Regardless of his previous confidence, his face now showed only bewilderment and worry.

"I'm fairly certain magic wasn't forbidden, right?" Say this with a grin, Alex reinforced her barrier and let it be visible to Lance. And right before his eyes, a transparent dome colored with a rosy tint appeared. "Or are you going to tell me that it's unfair that I'm protecting myself?"

"I see. This is why you were confident." Backing up a few feet, Lance took a low stance again. "But it can't last forever."

"I don't need it to. It was just for show anyhow." Dismissing her Barrier, Alex took her sword in hand and looked Lance dead in the eyes. "I'll end this quickly." At once, she stepped off the ground and darted in front of Lance so quickly he almost couldn't react. As she got in his face, a bright flash took up his vision, blinding him. Dropping her sword, Alex went for a tackle and speared Lance to the ground. Disarming him of his blade and turning it to his own throat, she put up a smile. "My win."

All around them, everyone was silent. Sebastian was just impressed at how his daughter had creatively and pragmatically used her magic, Ellia couldn't belive that her brother with his powerful Aspects was just defeated, and Michael was smiling to himself, as though he was thinking 'I knew this was going to happen'. Looking down on Lance, Alex gave a smile as she got up and offered him a hand.

"Sorry about getting you dirty. My bad." Giving him a smile, she held her hand out to him.

"Yeah, it's fine." Still blinking and rubbing his eyes, he cautious reached for the hand, a bit unsure due to his vision still being a bit off. "Did you use a Lantern there to blind me?"

"Yup. I honestly didn't think it'd work so well. Creating it so far away from me took a little more effort than I'd thought. Also, if I'd failed after closing my eyes like that, I wouldn't have stood a chance. But since it worked, I guess it was a good plan in the end. I'm sorry about that Lance."

"Oh no, it's perfectly fine." After dusting himself off real quickly, Lance returned her smile. "I actually find that interesting. It's a smart move, and I'd like to steal it."

"Go ahead. We fight to become stronger, so anything that works is good, right?"

"Indeed."

"Good job Alex. That was fine use of such a simple spell. You might have a knack for magic after all. Perhaps when you enter the Academy, you should look into non-systematic magic courses. Those are spells anyone can use regardless of Aspect, but they tend to be a bit more difficult to learn and have less power than standard ones." He shook his a head a bit, remembering some rather unflattering moments from his own youth when he trained in such magic before. "You might be able to use them effectively though, considering how you've been up to this point."

"I agree. Though I won't allow such a thing to work against me a second time." Lance said, looking at Alex with a bit more of a serious look in his eyes now. "After all, I hold the Aspect of the Dragon. If I couldn't learn to overcome such a simple trick, I would get nowhere."

"Don't worry Lance. I have plenty more tricks where that came from."

"And I look forward to unearthing every one you have, Alex." Holding his hand out to her, he gave a small nod. It was a request, and Alex accepted. Grabbing his hand, she looked him square in the eye. It wasn't anger, nor revenge, nor jealousy. In that look, it was the birth of a rivalry. Two children with similar fates who would throw themselves into battle in the future, and they saw each other as a necessary milestone.

'I won't lose.'

'I won't lose.'

Both harboring the same thought, they could only look forward to their next bout.

"Well, I won't disturb you two if you wish to continue, but it is time for lunch." Looking at her dad, Alex gave a sheepish grin. She'd completely forgotten. On the other hand, Lance gave him a wry smile, as though to say 'thanks for ruining the mood'. But it was fine. There would be more time to fight later. "Now hurry up and go wash your hands."

 **So, slight issue. We may have a problem with the Red Queen chapters. Namely... they're gone.**

 ** **I'm not even gonna try to bullshit my way outta this one. I got nothing. I know nothing. They're just gone. I'm gonna have to try and rewrite at least the next chapter within a day if possible or else... well, I'm not gonna to explain the "why" of the issues this causes me. There's just a lot of shit starting to pile up and it's making doing ANYTHING a pain right now. Even the simple act of waking up feels like a chore. It's just one of those weeks...****

 ** ** ** **Well, away from that depressing crap, it seems that (to my ungodly shock and amazement) you people _like_ this story. Please, forgive my almost rude tone. I just honestly never expected anyone to enjoy this. I was just mostly looking for some feedback on how to improve it for my friend. The responses were... positive, to say the least. However, I would like to thank Xander Valle. Your advice will be heeded in coming chapters for this, mostly because you were right. A little more story on the family would do better to make the setting something that the readers can really immerse themselves into.********

 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **And yes, based off of how I was talking back there, I plan to actually continue this alongside my others. Quite frankly, I'm almost touched people liked this. This story was a(n admittedly) poor attempt to write Fantasy, something I suck at usually. I had to download fourteen separate reference guides to make the setting, the magic, and Ruby's knowledge of science and such work. The amount of research I'm putting into this story is something I never quite expected to do for story, namely because I've usually used other stories, settings, and technology to build off of. So of course, I was worried this story would fail.****************

 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **Sorry for the ranting. I swear I'm either gaining emotions, or lacking the necessary Monster to suppress them. Meh. I guess the usual shtick applies to Re: RWBY too then. Comments, criticisms, and concerns are welcome. Starting from the next chapter, I'll begin Q+A sessions in my author's notes based off of comments and PM's to answer anything I leave unclear, and get a good idea of what you guys have trouble understanding.********************************

 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **Anyhow, Dravyn out!****************************************************************


	3. Re: School

A few weeks time passed in what felt like an agonizing eternity to Alex. This was the only time she'd ever felt such a desire to go to school, as the prospect of studying would normally leave her feeling tired. It wasn't that she was dumb, not by a long shot. It was that she only enjoyed learning about what she enjoyed. Weapon smithing, combat theory, and survival skills were things she enjoyed back in Beacon. But those three subjects were a minority for her, and so most days were a bore when she didn't have one of them.

In the meantime, she continued to practice her magic, mostly the Wind type. She still unfortunately lacked a basis for beginning to understand Lightning, Plant, or even Alchemy. Her only choice was to continue with the one which had a basic idea similar to simply controlling the Arcana around her. Of course she could only use a limited number of spells due to a lack of the prerequisite knowledge to understand further magic composition. Having the knowledge, imagination, and will power helped, but it could only get her so far. They say that 'necessity is the mother of all invention' and whatnot, but that could only help her when she had the starting line to work with here.

Each day was filled with different sorts of training. In the morning, she would go with her father to the Golden Lion's head quarters to train with him, Michael, and Lance in swordplay. When morning practice was over and she had some time, she then set about just practicing magic. Much like when she first tried to learn how to use her scythe, she had to practice the fundamentals as much as possible and make it into muscle memory. But right now, the only fundamentals she had were those she'd more or less had to resolve on her own. And the only memory she could improve was her own.

* * *

Magic, it seemed, had a glaring weakness at times. It took her visualizing, focusing, and the projecting her magic in order to create the desired effect. Her primary goal was to try and use it faster, and yet it seemed that there would always be a sort of delay. One that she found was harder to shorten than she'd thought. After asking her father one morning, he introduced her to a book that spelled out some of the basics of more advanced magic use. He told her not to go overboard in practicing what she'd read, especially as overdoing it would drain her energy and put her into a bad physical state.

But she wasn't after those kinds of techniques. Not yet, anyhow. Her goal was to find some trick to lessen the time needed to use it. If magic was going to be used in combat, then casting it faster was to her benefit. It was to anyone's benefit, really. Reading the book in her hand was more time consuming than she expected, especially due to her literacy skills still being in the developmental stage. Another thing she should have paid more attention to when her tutor was around, and something she gave some regret to. After spending an extended amount of time pouring through the book before her, she found what she thought was the key she sought. It was a chapter detailing how to make magic more efficient, both in consumption and casting.

The first few pages mostly retold her the things she'd skimmed through in the previous chapters. It wasn't until she reached the entry about components that she gained more of an interest. In this section, it mentioned that magic was comprised of components of three different tiers, all dependant upon importance.

The first tier, the most important, was one's Arcana. This component made up most of what magic was. Without enough Arcana, then all of the imagination and will power in the world would amount to nothing. It was in this respect that a magician's worth was determined mostly through their Arcana.

The second tier consisted of what her father had taught her before, namely Knowledge, Imagination, and Will Power. These components gave shape to one's magic. As the book simply put it, Arcana could be considered water, while these components could be considered a container. It would give form to the magic you wished to cast, and ultimately determine what it will do.

And the final tier consisted of what were called 'magic aids'. Simply put, they were components that could help one cast magic much more smoothly. The components were classified as Verbal, Somatic, and Material. Their purpose was to provide a memory of sort to channel magic more efficiently. Like when one would shout 'Fireball!' in one of those old games Ruby would play, and then a fireball would actually appear. The act itself brought up what could be considered a muscle memory of sort, but with magic instead. It was this tier that Alex took an interest in. Especially as it was this tier of components that would affect her magic the most at this stage.

The book spoke about how everyone who used magic had their own means of using these sorts of components. There was nothing universal in the application of magic, and everyone could have their own way of doing it. Though each method could affect the power of the spell used. The example provided by the book goes something like this; Mage A and Mage B both use Fireball. Mage A simply shouts Fireball to produce his, while Mage B has to wave his hand out in order to produce the Fireball. Both actions differ, and yet produce the same spell. However, Mage A's Fireball is of a slightly larger size because his use of the word Fireball allows him to visualize his own spell more clearly.

Just this information alone was helpful to Alex. A movement or word could make casting magic easier by affecting her memory. It was like tying certain shortcuts to key combinations on a keyboard. In fact, the tier three components could be considered shortcuts of a sort. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. But she wanted to shorten the casting time of her spells, so the visualization would require her to find something to fit with it. For starters, she had to improve the only spells she had that were offensive.

* * *

Finishing with her father's book, Alex replaced it upon the shelf and then walked towards the front door. She had no other plans today, and most of her family was busy. Michael was with their father at the order, learning the stuff he needed to know to be a squire. Her mother was out checking out the market, as their food stores were running down a bit. And the twins were being watched by Elizabeth. So she thought to try some of what she'd just read.

Thinking of it logically, there were only so many ways to invoke an image in one's head. Association with music was something Ruby would do when studying sometimes, but that was when she had a Scroll that could store and play music. Here, that luxury was kind of impossible. The magic she wanted to try working on was her Wind magic. Being the only kind she was currently able to use in direct combat, she wanted to be able to use it fast, like when she used her Lantern against Lance the other day. But that wouldn't work well against someone a little more prepared, or experienced. She needed actual offense that could be invoked as quickly.

The first was understanding what she did. She'd taken to practicing with her wind one of two ways. The first was to use it as a sort of bladed attack. Sort of like an energy wave in most games. In fact, that was where the idea had come from for her. The other idea was to launch compressed balls of air and then rapidly expand them. This one was a bit more difficult, but it's effectiveness was greater against enemies with thick armor. Probably. It was all in theory right now. She was simply trying to increase her combat potential by giving herself something for multiple situations.

So first she tried for what she provisionally named the Wind Hammer. Compressing the air around her to fit into her hand, she steadily gathered more and more as she concentrated. This process was definitely one that could be improved. But there might be limits on that sort of thing that would make it difficult. After reaching what she thought was an appropriate pressure, Alex released it at a nearby tree. With a resounding crack, the ball ended up hitting and splintering a good portion of the tree. It's power was decent. That was something she would likely learn to improve with time. But the speed was her issue.

But Alex would find that magic was not something to simple to refine and perfect. Several hours passed by in the blink of an eye, and yet she'd gotten nowhere. She gone through at least three or four methods of visualizing the gathering process, and yet nothing had happened any differently. What was it that she was missing? It wasn't an answer she could solve by herself, not right now anyhow. It seemed that improving her Wind Hammer would go nowhere today, and yet the sky was already taking on a rosy tint. She'd spend more time than she originally intended on this practice. It was likely that she wouldn't find an answer that satisfied her before she entered the Academy.

The rest of the night passed by quickly, no different than normal. Dinner, small talk, and evening practice with her father and Michael. Honestly, the routine was kind of nice to her. It let her keep her mind calm, and more or less undid the frustration from her previous failures. She'd figured that magic would be a much simpler thing for her to master. Then again, it's not like she learned to use her scythe in a day either. Still though, it did frustrate her. Her ability to fight before was based off of her martial skill and her Aura. Now, she's lacking in not only her weapon, but also in the Aura. Instead of being something always active and subtle, it was now a conscious effort to use it. Granted, it was still a simple matter, but it wouldn't protect her now without her conscious effort. She needed the magic to make up for what she'd lost.

* * *

And just like that, time passed in the blink of an eye. For the Du Noire family, it was the day that the first of them had decided to ever walk the path of mage craft. For Alex, it was simply the first step in becoming what Ruby was. A hunter. Knowledge of magic would serve her well in her desire to fight monsters yet again. The primary issue with this being her age, all she could do now was simply improve her abilities and go where she could. Today, Alex would begin to stay at the Academy year round for the next five years. Due to complications, her mother and Elizabeth couldn't be here, but her father and Michael had made it in their stead.

"Remember to make some friends Alex. Besides royalty, I mean. I can easily see you angering them somehow." Michael was doing his best to encourage his sister and give her some advice, while teasing her in the process.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it."

"Alexandra." Her father addressed her quietly. "I'm hoping this turns out to be a good experience for you."

"It will Papa, I promise. I won't waste this opportunity." Alex said with a nod. She was trying to reassure her father, who despite his calm appearance had, according to her mother, barely slept a wink due to constant worry last night.

"I know you won't. I also want you to keep up on your sword play while you're here. So," He unbuckled the single broadsword hanging at his waist and handed it to her. "Here, a sword of your own. It's nothing special, but it's well made and should do the job."

"My own sword?" Alex was happy. Considering her personality as Ruby was still mostly the same, her love of weapons and the like had not really disappeared. As such, having her own weapon here finally made her all kinds of excited. "Thanks Papa!" Grabbing her father in a big bear huge, she more or less threw him off as it was unexpected. But after the second of confusion had ended, he hugged her back tightly.

"Make sure to come home sometime when you have a free moment, okay?"

"Mmhm!"

"Hey Alex, no hug for your big brother?" At first, she stuck her tongue out to him in a childish manner. But soon let go of her father and went to hug her brother too. "That's better. Stay safe, okay? And make sure to show everyone else in that school just how amazing my little sister is."

"Like that'll be hard. After all, I've whipped your butt a bunch."

"Yeah, but I'm more durable than most people. Don't overdo it, okay?"

"I make no promises there."

"I expected you to say that," Michael mentioned with a sigh. That was his little sister. Reckless and wild. And yet also irreplaceable. "Go get 'em Alex. When you get back, we're going to have another spar. And next time I'm gonna settle the score once and for all!"

"Good luck with that." After finishing her hugs and goodbyes, she equipped the sword around her belt, and ran off toward the main building. Along the way, she ran into a familiar figure. "Oh, hey Ellia!" Turning back to the source of the voice, Ellia noticed Alex.

"Ahh, Alex. Finally someone I know. Don't get it wrong though, I'm not happy to see you. I just simply needed someone to escort me, and my brother seems to have gone on ahead." With how mean she was originally, Alex at first thought that Ellia had a rotten personality. But now, she could just see that the girl was not very honest with how she felt sometimes. There was a word for this, right? Well, it's not like it matters. "So, are you ready for the first day?"

"Yeah. I already have an idea of what sort of courses I want to take. For now, I want to find a course on Alchemy, one for Lightning type magic, and one for Wind type magic. I mostly want to try and learn some offensive applications for my Wind magic if I can, as well as learn how to use Lightning. And Alchemy sounds like it could be useful too, you know?"

"Hmph, you are too spread out. I plan to take courses related to Fire magic, Offensive Casting, and Non-Systematic type magic. I'm going to utilize my Aspects to their finest and become one of the most powerful magic users in the country."

"Wow, pretty grand dreams." Alex was truly impressed that she had such a big goal. "But as a princess, will you really need to be so strong?"

"It's not necessarily a need." Ellia looked like she was struggling to find the words to explain what she meant. "The De Regulus family line values strength. The princes tend to marry strong women, and the princesses tend to marry strong men. Traditionally, the crown prince marries one of the strongest women in the land to ensure that the royal line remains a powerful force."

"Whoa. Why do you they value strength so much?"

"From what my mother told me, it seems that it's due to what the first king of Cernostra held as his principles. According to mother, his teachings were that a king should always be the strongest. They must carry the burdens of their people, and should always fight with their men on the front lines of war." Stopping, she shook her head as if to admonish such an ideal. "So he chose his wife for her strength, and the tradition carried on down our family line. As for my brothers, each has a fiancee chosen for them when they reach fifteen. I have slightly more leeway, but not much. Personally, I'm just hoping Lancelot doesn't end up wedded to that vixen." That last line was added in a low voice, but Alex still caught it with her sensitive ears.

"Vixen?"

"It's nothing major." The two were still following the crowd to the entrance ceremony as they spoke. "But there is a girl who's been after his affection for years. She's the daughter of the royal advisor. Her father holds a lot of pull in the royal court, and since they were babies it's been assumed apparently that they'll end up together. But Lancelot doesn't care for her much, so she's trying to get him through our tradition."

"So she's trying to prove how strong she is so that Lance will be forced to marry her because of the rules?" Wow, prearranged marriages like this weren't something that Alex had ever really encountered before, not even as Ruby. And deciding it on something like strength was just wrong. "That's not fair. Lance should be able to choose who he wants to be with on his own."

"That's why I called her a vixen. She's entered the Academy too this year, and her results were just under ours. Her total magic capacity is twelve thousand and fifty two. She's got some serious strength as it is. Only one person outside of the royal family actually beats her."

"Who?"

"You, obviously. You with your ridiculous capacity of fifteen thousand! Take my word for it, she'll likely be targeting you starting early. Look out for any girl with black hair, and one blue and one green eye."

"Thanks for the warning Ellia, but why would she target me?" Alex really couldn't figure it out. Unsurprising as the thought of such things never really crosses her mind. Only magic, or weapons were usually going up in her noggin.

"Ugh, are you stupid?! It's because you're the one person who, if your name was put in as an option, could possibly compete to be made Lancelot's wife!"

"Huh?" Thinking about it for a few seconds, the pieces of what Ellia had just said finally formed themselves into some sort of complete image in her head. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Why am I suddenly being told this?!"

"How can you not realize it? You're the daughter of the most prominent knight in the country, you've already shown yourself to have a large amount of Arcana at your command from a young age, and you blew the entrance exams for one of the strictest schools in the country out of the water! You are quite possibly one of the strongest kids in our generation alone just based off of those results and your birth!"

"I decline! I decline right now!" There was no way Alex was going to let someone else determine her life when she was only seven. She wanted to be the hero of a story, the knight in shining armor. Not the princess stuck in the tower! This was a big 'NO' in her book. "No offense to him and all, but I would never marry Lance because somebody told me to!"

"Hearing you say that about my brother irks me. But like I said, you're only likely still. It may not happen. Plus, I doubt that father would do anything to displease Ser Du Noire in the long run. If something happened and you ended up bringing it up to your father, I have no doubt it would be resolved." Ellia said, giving a small sigh. "But frankly, I'd still choose you over her. For now, just forget about that whole thing. Just remember to watch out for-"

"Oh, hello Ellia."

"Speak of the demoness..." Ellia muttered under her breath. Turning around to meet the voice, Alex also followed suit. The person behind them was a girl of the same height as Ellia. Her hair was pulled back into a neat, braided ponytail. And just as Ellia had described, her eyes were heterochromic. Her left eye was a pale blue, like still water in a pond. Her right eye was the same shade of green as the grass outside. She looked pretty enough to Alex, but something also felt off. She wouldn't attribute it to something as unreliable as woman's intuition, but it was more like her instincts as a huntress. "Hello Tanya."

"Oh come on, why so glum? Isn't today supposed to be a good one? And who's this girl here?" And suddenly, her attention turned to Alex.

"My name is Alexandra. Alexandra Crux Du Noire. I'm a friend of Ellia's." Alex said, giving a small nod towards the girl, Tanya.

"I see. I am Tanya Vert Du Piper. I am also an acquaintance of Ellia's. I may be wrong, but is your father not the one known as the Wolf Knight of Cernostra?"

"No, you're not wrong. That is Papa's nickname."

"I see. So you were the girl with the two strange Aspects, hmm? Such interesting company for Ellia to be keeping." Were Alex just a little less perceptive, she may have missed the slightly hostile undertone of her word. It wasn't too hard to figure out that she was calling Alex an eyesore, in a roundabout fashion. "No offense, of course. I'm just worried about Ellia and Lancelot being associated with such a strange person. Rumors could fly, you know."

"Would they now? I'm under the impression that the daughter of the kingdom's strongest knight would not seem out of place being around the prince and princess. There's nobody more reliable for us to associate with. Certainly nobody around us is stronger than Alex here is, now are they?" Ellia didn't even bother to try hiding her annoyance. She straight up threw it in Tanya's face.

"You're looking at her, Ellia." And Tanya's face also changed to adopt an annoyed look. "Don't get so held up on entrance results alone. Those rankings will be changed by the time we graduate." The tension between these two was so thick, Alex could have sworn it was tangible. As daggers flew between the two, another voice broke the tension.

"Ellia, there you are. And Alex's with you too. Good. We have to get going. Things are going to be starting up soon." It was Lancelot. As he was coming closer, he noticed Tanya as well. "Oh. Hello there Tanya."

"Hello Lancelot." Her previous attitude had completely done a one-eighty, and she was back to pretending to be sweet. It was a disturbing change to say the least. "I'm so glad to see you here."

"Yeah. You too. Let's go Ellia, Alex." Looking at Tanya, Alex could notice a slight twitch in her eyebrow when Lancelot had called her by her nickname instead of using her full name.

"Got it Lance. We'll follow you." Sneaking a peek at Tanya, she could see her mouth start to visibly twitch, as though she was restraining herself. She decided to take it a step further and grab Lance by the arm. "Let's go!" After the two were ahead by a bit, Ellia gave a quick smug look towards Tanya and then followed after. Tanya was just left behind, her mask cracking and the envy below spilling out.

"This will not stand." She whispered to nobody but herself.

* * *

The ceremony went by rather quickly. Afterwards, the students had formed into several groups based off of the results of their entrance exams. Apparently, Alex, Lance, and Ellia were all in the same group, mostly due to their good scores. That group was led by one of the staff around to a room. The place was furnished much like a normal class room, albeit one that looked straight out of a medieval fantasy book that Ruby'd read before.

"Now students, take your seats. You may call me Professor Greenwich. I shall be your Instructor for your Primary course this year, consisting of teaching you the basics behind Magical History and Theory." The instructor looked fairly young, at least considering he was a teacher. Maybe early thirties or so. "Now, perhaps if each student could give a brief introduction. Afterwards, I will pass out your dorm assignments and class materials for the semester."

The introductions passed by in a moment. Her class consisted only of about fifteen students total. Among the other twelve students she saw Tanya. After her display this morning, Alex already held a bad impression of the girl. Her instincts still told her that the girl was a danger. The way she switched between the hostile self she showed Ellia, and the proper self she showed Lance was bothering Alex. It was even bad enough that she had to obsessively put herself next to Lance via seating arrangement, although due to certain contrived coincidences (namely Ellia) Alex sat to his other side. And on her other side sat Ellia. Three rows of five, with the four of them nearly taking up an entire row all on their own.

* * *

Once the introductions had finished, and Alex felt the embarrassment of having all eyes focused on her (in actuality, the twin royals currently flanking her), the Professor began to hand out room assignments. By some luck, it seemed that she had been placed into the same room with Ellia, so there was something she should be thankful for. Once their stuff was passed out, they were given freedom for the remainder of the day. Of all the things she could do, Alex's first desire was to check out the training grounds. It seems that Lance was also of the same mind.

"Hey Alex, want to go a round or two in the practice grounds?" Alex looked at him and gave him an affirmative nod.

"But first, can we drop our stuff off at our rooms?"

"Sure. Meet back in the main hall after?" After giving him a nod, they all went their separate ways. Ellia and Alex moved their way over to the dorm reserved for females. The place itself was rather nice. In fact, it was better than Alex expected. To be fair though, the only real thing she could compare it to was Beacon, which she had to share a room with three other girls. Here, the space was more than enough for the two of them. After throwing her bags down onto one of the sides, Alex headed out to the main hall to meet with Lance. Ellia followed her, giving some sort of excuse of wanting to make sure nothing happens between the two.

* * *

After meeting up with Lance, the group headed to where one of the Professors pointed out. A building with a large area somewhat reminiscent of an arena, it seems that here is where students practiced magic in practical lessons, or performed bouts during exams and such. There were a few students scattered here and there practicing their various magicks and such, but neither Alex nor Lance intended to join them. They were here, their swords at their waists, and they were intending to cross blades.

As they drew their swords and took their stances with about twenty feet separating them, some of the other students began to look in their direction. Of course they were whispering, asking why the freshmen were using swords in this school. Why they were using such a weaker method of fighting. Some did wonder what those two intended to do with their swords, if they were possibly conduits for their magic? Though they only stood around for a minute, a few students had already come over to observe the fight.

Without warning, Alex kicked off the ground and flew at Lance. Bringing her sword down, it was met with resistance as Lance blocked the full brunt of her assault. Not giving an opportunity to her, Lance raised his leg and sent a swift kick towards Alex's midsection, connecting with a satisfying "oomph". Even after kicking her back, he did not want to give up any ground. Chasing her, he began to attack at her with his full strength. He knew that if she got any distance between the two of them, she would be able to perform her usual hit-and-runs. He had to pin her down to remove her only advantage on him. Her speed.

Honestly, Alex wasn't expecting such a ferocious attack from Lance this time around. He was normally a little calmer, and his judgment was fairly good. She figured it might be some sort of characteristic of his Aspects that gave him such a calm mental state while in a fight. But she didn't see that now. He was fighting more like Ruby's sister, Yang, did. Fast, aggressive, and with little intent of backing up. She was hoping to beat him with just pure skill today, but against him she would have no real choice. She had to use her magic.

Pouring her strength into her legs, she quickly leapt far above Lance's head, taking to the skies like some sort of bird. Of course this was not the sort of height someone could normally achieve. And yet she took to that sort of height like it was natural. Of course gravity would pull her down again. Putting some distance between herself and Lance was simple though. Making a spot of compressed air between herself and Lance, she angled herself and released the air. The resulting surge pushed her away from Lance, as well as knocking him back slightly. Sticking the landing, she took up her blade again and faced Lance.

"So much for a dragon. Can't even fly."

"I can still bring you to the ground."

"Try it." Running at Lance, she tried a different approach this time. She threw her weapon, blade first, toward him. Of course a bladed weapon flying towards one, sharp end first, would freak someone out. Lance quickly flicked his own sword up to intercept, sending Alex's sword flying up into the air. But she wasn't far behind her own blade, and quickly took advantage of his momentary distraction.

Putting a barrier around only her hands was fairly simple, and she did so with every intent of taking him on this way. Getting into range, Alex launched a fist right at his face. He was barely able to get his sword in the way in time, but it didn't help much. The first punch she threw was only a feint, somethign Lance only realized when he felt her other fist connecting to his stomach. While not quite as good at her sister, Ruby was taught by Yang to be able to fight somewhat decently with hand-to-hand. Of course, her hand being covered in a barrier was better, especially when the barrier in question was expanded in the direction she was punching when she connected to Lance. The resulting force sent him flying across the arena, landing not-so-gently a decent distance away. Surprisingly, Lance got back up, albeit shakingly. Meanwhile, Alex lightly caught her blade by the handle and took up a stance again.

"Okay, that one kind of hurt." The strain was evident in his voice. It wasn't like this was the first time Alex had sent him flying using magic. Then again, considering Lance was unable to use the sort of stuff that Alex was already capable of, it was almost always a case of her creatively using the few spells she knew. "We may have to start using a new rule forbidding you from this stuff."

"Oh come on! You're obviously stronger than me, so I need something to even the odds!"

"My ribs disagree." Lance said, grabbing his side lightly.

"Here, I'll get that." Alex said moving over to him.

"Thanks."

"Does it hurt here?" Alex asked him, gently touching around his ribcage where her hand had struck. After giving his affirmation in the form of a quick nod and a small grunt, Alex went to work. It was something she'd learned a while back after trying to expand her range of influence with healing like she did with her barrier. After what felt like a minute, she finished. "Does it hurt any more?"

"Nope. Good as always." Lance confirmed, knocking on his ribs to make sure. "It's a good thing you figured out how to do this yourself. The other option would be for me to explain to my father how you were usually covering me in bruises."

"I'm sorry. It's just that I can't hold back when you attack."

"Then do you mind teaching me how to do that?"

"Huh?"

"The barrier." Lance asked, looking at Alex seriously. "The Aspect of the Bear does allow for me to learn some Protection magic. Plus, if I can learn how to use one like you do, it should lead to you having to fix me up less."

"You sure you're willing to learn magic from me? I'm no proper teacher you know."

"Yeah, but you're the same age as me. I'd probably learn easier from you than from the teachers. Plus, we're not slated to start learning actual techniques for a little while, and I'd like to get started as soon as possible with learning my magic."

"Uh... Are you _really_ sure?" It wasn't too hard for her to understand where he was coming from. When Ruby first held her scythe, she wanted nothing more than to learn all of the fun, super advanced maneuvers she could. It was due to that focus that her fighting style was so peculiar.

"Yes. As long as it would not be too much of an inconvenience for you."

"I guess I can then. It wouldn't be too hard for me to start teaching you how to make a simple barrier." The biggest issue with teaching Lance mostly came from her not knowing how to. For her, protecting herself with a Barrier was an extension of skills she knew back as Ruby. It was instinctual for her, which is likely the only reason she was able to use that sort of magic as well as she was.

"Thank you, Alex. I am grateful." After bowing his head slightly to Alex, Lance shifted his attention around, noticing the crowd that now surrounded them. "Oh, we seem to have attracted a few observers."

"Eh?" Now that he'd mentioned it, Alex also noticed the people around them. It wasn't hard for her to pick up on some of what they were saying.

"Was that some sort of magic she used to jump that high?"

"What about the way she put distance between the two of them? It must have been wind magic."

"Did she just use a Barrier to punch someone? What kind of technique was that?"

"She looks so small. Is she a first year?"

"No way. It's impossible for a first year to be able to use Wind magic and Barrier."

"Lance, can we go? I'm not comfortable here right now." Alex never really liked crowds. That was something that came from when she was Ruby. Around people she knew, she was mostly fine. Stick her up on a stage, and she was stricken with fear.

"Alright. We can practice later then. Ellia!"

"We're going? Alright then." The group quickly made it's way out of the practice grounds and back towards the dorms. After parting ways with Lance, Ellia and Alex made it back to their room. After getting in, Alex proceeded to collapse on the bed. It was a long day so far, but yet it was only the first of many. Tomorrow was the first day she would begin learning magic in earnest.

* * *

 **Dravyn here, again. Surprisingly.**

 **If you're wondering about how I managed to write a third chapter for this so quickly, don't. I myself don't even get it. I lay in my bed last night half asleep and with a violent case of sea sickness, and woke up to find this mostly finished and with my tablet damn near dead. I'm not even kidding. I was often told I have a weird habit of not staying still when I sleep, but I never expected it to be like this.**

 **So, as promised, it's time for a Q+A. Do note that I'm going to paraphrase the questions and such to make it easier.**

* * *

 **Q:** Will we be seeing anyone else from team RWBY?

 **A:** Nope. This is Ruby/Alex's story. Sorry.

* * *

 **Q:** Why'd you skip Attack Magic?

 **A:** Because I could. No real reason to that really. I just wanted to show how whimsical Augustus was. And having his arbitrarily bend some rules seemed like a good way to do so.

* * *

 **Q:** Will we be seeing Crescent Rose again?

 **A:** Considering a scythe was a rather uncommon weapon to see on a battlefield, I'm not too sure if I plan to bringing it back. I'm honestly torn between a few different ideas for a weapon that Alex can use. I'll be deliberating over this for a while longer.

* * *

 **Q:** Will Alex's weapon transform?

 **A:** . . . maybe? I'm just hesitant about allowing her to have a weapon with an anti-material rifle. That would make most fights far too easy. I might make it a simple collapsible weapon, depending.

* * *

 **Q:** Will you be shipping Alex?

 **A:** Probably not for a while. This chapter teases a possibility of it through the tradition of the Royal Family, but I also plan to show Alex putting herself into a position of freedom later. How I plan to do this is an idea I've been working on for a while, and can only be summed up as "You'll see".

* * *

 **That's about all for now. Keep the comments, questions, and criticisms coming. Catch ya later!**

 **Dravyn out!**


	4. Re: Break

Time for Alex passed in the blink of an eye. It had been over six months since she'd enrolled into the academy, and she'd long since settled on a routine for her day. As her primary goal was to learn magic, the routine consisted, of course, with her going to her daily lessons. Some of which were mandated by academy policy, and others which she was free to choose to study.

One of the required courses, and the one that served as a sort of "homeroom" for her was Arcane Theory and History. Unsurprising, her homeroom consisted of the top ranked students for the year, all chosen from their entry scores. And of course, both Lance and Ellia were around too. For Alex, this was somewhat of a relief. She was poor at making friends and she knew it. If she didn't have someone she recognized around her, odds are that she would eventually start feeling anxious. Especially during group assignments, something that she didn't really think would be a major issue here though.

Her other mandated courses were also basics, such as Arcane Control and Arithmetic. While she could understand the need for it, Alex still hated the fact that while she was here to study magic, she still had to learn math. It was apparently the same no matter where you went. Granted, Ruby's time in Signal and Beacon had taught her plenty about arithmetic, probably putting her far ahead of some of these instructors who only knew their math to a simple level. But Alex still took the course as she was required, and even tried her hardest to not show off and stand out.

Speaking of which, her first few moths in the academy were already somewhat stressful for her. She was in the spotlight, so to speak, especially after her performance at the entry exam. Being able to willingly change the color of her Lantern alone had gotten her the attention of the instructors, as well as attracting the ire, envy, and curiosity of several of her classmates. On top of all of this, she was also hanging out with the prince and princess so casually. People assumed she was some sort of special VIP, or possibly an unknown child of an mysterious mistress of the king. Only one rumor seemed to be even remotely close to accurate, and that was the one claiming she was the daughter of a powerful knight sent here as the twins' bodyguard/ attendant. And only about half of that rumor was true.

But that was nothing for her to really bother with. By this point in her time at the academy, the rumors had mostly died down. For now, it was simply time for her to focus on her studies. And the main courses she would focus on were the ones that she herself had chosen to undertake.

The first she had chosen would be a course in controlling lightning type magic, something she had found she had an affinity for, and yet didn't even know the first step in how to visualize it. She figured she may have simply missed something, and the course was there to help her with such a thing. At the current time, she had managed to already learn to produce and utilize lightning, albeit not to an extremely useful stage yet. If her end goal was to create a thunderstorm, her current condition of being able to make a weak taser wouldn't do her much good. Chalk that goal up to hard work and the future her to figure out.

The next class she'd elected to take was a course in non-systematic type magic. To put it simply, systematic and non-systematic were just really unnecessarily long ways of saying elemental and non-elemental, more or less. Creating a fireball or a bolt of lightning would fall under the systematic category of magic, magic that could be classified under the elements provided by one's Aspect. These were spells that one had an inherent trait to understand and work with, making them fairly simple for one to grasp the concept of in the short term.

Magic like a simple Lantern fell under the non-systematic typing. These were magics that were universal in application and nature, and required no previous affinities to work with. The main difference is that the theory behind these is understood less, and the spells in general tend to have weaker effects than the use of a systematic spell to achieve a similar effect. And yet these sorts were not without their benefits. As they had no direct relation to one's affinities as granted by their Aspects, anyone could use them.

But those were all just extra courses to Alex right now. Her primary focus was on one class in particular. The thing is, ever since she had come into this world, Alex had noted one thing. Or rather, a lack of something in particular. After having done extensive research (or about as extensive as a child can do), she had found that gunpowder was indeed a thing in this world. But the applications for it were limited to canons. Canons! Not actual guns! It was a travesty that these people should not understand the joys of taking down one's targets from half a klick out with an anti-material rifle, or being able to engage multiple people rapidly with the use of an automatic. And it was something that Alex had sworn to remedy!

For this purpose, she had enrolled herself into the basic Metallurgy and Moulding course. What her father said before was true. It was a fairly uncommon form of magic, and very few seemed to have any sort of affinity for it, or even want to learn. The entire course for her class consisted of about three students, her included, and one instructor. But she liked this atmosphere, and it gave her more time to take the instructor's attention for herself. This was a mandatory course for her, and she took it very seriously. Each day, she would attentively follow every lesson with a focus that one would make anyone she knew from Beacon mistake for anyone other than Ruby.

The class consisted of attempting to give shape to what was in one's mind through metal. Apparently, actually changing the structure of the metal and altering what type it was would be something learned at a later time. But one step at a time, right? For now, she would spend each day practicing on the materials she was given to try and give form to pieces of a gun. Her current project was to try and create a handgun for the time being, especially as they were smaller and often had less parts. Of course this did not simplify things one bit. Giving perfect form to what's in her mind was not something that even Alex could achieve in a day. It was over three months in before she even managed to make the frame perfect. And progress had only gone so far since. Of course she took material from the course each night back to her room to practice with for about an hour before turning into bed anyhow. With permission from the instructor, it was possible and so she'd taken advantage of that possibility.

* * *

And as her new school life continued, Alex heard a piece of news that was incredibly wonderful to her. It came in the form of an announcement from Instructor Greenwich when his homeroom had assembled for the morning period.

"Pupils, I have good news. Starting tomorrow, all students will receive a week long break from the academy to return home. The reason for this sudden interruption of your studies is because the eastern campaign that was sent out to fight the ongoing war with out neighbors in the Kingdom of Elithe will Geraine will be returning tomorrow. A festival will be held to honor all of the fallen, as well as welcome back the soldiers and knights from their long campaign. All students who have family members involved with the campaign should make good use of this time to visit your families."

As the instructor's announcement ended, Alex felt a mix of feelings. Happiness at seeing her family again. Joy at spending an evening around the meal table once more to talk with them. But a little bit of loneliness for parting with her friends for the week. As well as some slight annoyance for having to put her studies on pause for the time. Though for the most part, her happiness was the emotion that won through. While learning magic was cool and all, she loved her family more.

As a little over half year had already flown by since her enrollment, She had no doubt that the twins had grown up quite a bit, and that things may have changed while she was away. Though the biggest change would likely be her ability to control magic now. Especially as she had put so much focus into it in the past several months. She was looking forward to a fight with Michael, if she could. Especially now that she could toy with him to her heart's content.

After her homeroom was dismissed, classes were over for the day. It seems that in addition to the week, the students were being given the rest of today for preparation and travel purposes, for those to which the travel applied. As for her, this suited her just fine. She got small bag ready with a change of clothes, some of her books, and the parts and materials for her "extra project". Family is important, but so are guns. Not quite as much, but for Alex that difference wasn't big enough to warrant leaving the project on hold for a week.

"So Ellia, what are you going to be doing over the vacation?" She asked her roommate, mostly out of curtesy. Also partially because she was curious about her friends were planning to do.

"Lancelot and I are likely going to reporting to our father about our progress here. No doubt Lancelot will also be given extra lessons in swordsmanship in order to make up for the loss of time he spent her studying." She said. In the time that Alex had know Ellia, her prickly personality had gotten a lot easier to deal with. Perhaps she was warming up to her.

"'Loss of time'? But Lance and I practice every day after class."

And it was true. Following their daily courses, Alex, Lance, and Ellia would meet in the Student Arena in order to practice with each other. And having each as opponents gave Alex a diverse idea of fighting styles. She would often fight with Lance using swords and basic magic. More often than not, the two would use Barrier and Non-Systematic magic in their fights, something easy and simple to blend with swordsmanship.

As for with Ellia, Alex had to rely solely on utilizing magic with her. Especially as Ellie lacked any sort of physical capability that she and Lance had. If anything, she had enough to be able to move during a fight. But if it came to physical combat utilizing her body, she wouldn't last long. On top of that, she didn't know how to throw a punch. Well, not a good one anyhow. So their sparring matches tended to be the two launching ranged spells against each other, with Ellia utilizing fire while Alex mixed it up with lightning and wind type magic. If anything, it was the sparring sessions with these two that improved Alex's skills rather than the courses. Where in the books she learned the basics, it was in her matches with Lance and Ellia that she truly got to use, practice, and get used to the techniques themselves.

"I doubt that our father is watching the two of you fight every day. It's only to be expected." Ellia waved it off, dismissing the thought as being nothing of real importance. "If anything, he would likely enjoy the extra practice. You know, even if he doesn't show it much, Lancelot does find losing to you to be frustrating. Even having learned from the Wolf Knight himself, your skill is simply too good."

"I'm not that strong though Ellia."

"You might not see it, but Lancelot and I have noticed it over the past few months." Ellia said, stopping her packing. Turning to face Alex, she gave her a completely serious look. "You invent new uses of spells on the fly frequently, and the strength of your protection is not something that Lancelot or I could break through so easily. You're very proficient with those Barriers in particular. Fire is supposed to be one of the strongest elements of magic, but you don't even flinch when struck by a fireball powerful enough to dent a knight's armor. It's honestly annoying. And if my fire can't break through it, imagine how Lancelot with his sword feels."

"Oh." Alex had honestly not given it too much thought. Ruby was, due to the automatic nature of her Aura's protection, used to shrugging off damage. But in Remnant, that was normal. But here? Completely ignoring someone's strongest attack would likely cause some sort of harm to their ego. Lance was extremely strong for his age, mostly due to the influence of the Aspect of the Dragon. Normal students would have their protection shattered fairly easily at this stage of their training. She could completely brush him off. "I never thought of that. I'm sorry Ellia."

"Don't," she said sighing. "You have nothing to apologize for. You're not exactly in the wrong. You're a monster to us, plain and simple. A completely invulnerable monster. I already see that as a fact, and I'm sure Lancelot does too. But that's one of your strengths. I don't know about him, but I see breaking through your Barriers as being a goal of sorts. I wish to be one of the strongest possible magicians in all of Cernostra. That dream will not be realized by comparing my flames to embers. I must be able to create a blaze that can tear down the strongest bastion if I wish to claim that title."

The way she spoke belied her age, and even almost made Alex think that Ellia was rather noble for a second. To have such a grand dream, and to even be willing to blatantly ignore such a powerful obstacle, considering it merely a part of her growing stronger. Alex was really seeing Ellia in a new light today. A more positive one.

"I see. Thanks Ellia," Alex said wholeheartedly. Ellia's words, while they had a little bit of criticism in them, were ultimately quite nice. If she read a little into them, Alex could almost swear it seemed like Ellia was telling her that it didn't matter. She would be there to challenge Alex. It was a comforting sort of thought to have such a rival. "I promise you though, I don't ever plan to allow you to break my Barriers. You called me a monster? Then I'll be an unbeatable monster."

"Heh. Hold onto that dream as long as you can. One of these days, I will tear down your guard and show you just who is truly unbeatable."

"Alright then." After finishing packing up, Alex was about to leave when another thought crossed her mind. "If you and Lance ever feel like stopping by during the week, then do so. It'll be nice to see you guys." Alex said giving a smile to Ellia.

"Would it look good for a prince and princess to be visiting you?"

"Maybe not every day, but a surprise visit can't be out of the question. Right?"

"Okay then." Ellia said with a nod. It looked like a thought had occurred to her, but Alex simply pretended to ignore it. "I'll let Lancelot know. He'll likely be happy to have another chance to speak with Ser Du Noire. Oh, and to see you of course."

"Yeah. We're friends, right?"

"Yeah," Ellia said, an incredulous look flashing across her face for a brief instant. Alex failed to notice it however, and just took it as is.

* * *

Saying farewell to Ellia, Alex slung her bag over her shoulder and made for the front gate. She was going to try and surprise her family today. She was looking forward to simply dropping in unannounced to see what they would say. Making her way through the halls, she was called out to by a familiar voice.

"Oh, little Alex. Where are you off to?" It was Augustus, the chairman of the Academy. Since her enrollment, he had many an interaction with her. It seems that he was curious about her, especially with her more than impressive entrance examination score. Something she found out later was that some of the Academy faculty actually believed her information was deliberately made up. "Going home for the break?"

"Hi mister Aug." She returned his greeting. "Yeah, I was going to get a head start on heading back. I wanted to surprise my family."

"A surprise, is it?" He asked, giving a small chuckle. It really made Alex wonder, but not for very long. "Well then, enjoy your off time. Don't forget to practice when you find some time, okay?"

"Alright. See you later mister Aug!" After waving goodbye, she continued until she reached the entrance. After stepping outside, she found a little surprise waiting for her instead.

"Alex!" The one calling her was none other than her older brother, Michael. How did he know about this? Well, giving him a hug came before asking her question. Running up, she threw an arm around her older brother, who reciprocated. "Glad I came when I did."

"Hey Mikey! How'd you know I was leaving today?"

"Oh, that. Word got to us from mister Augustus that you guys were going to be getting some time off starting today."

' _Damn him_.' Alex could only think. He ruined her surprise!

"Mother is taking care of the house, and Elizabeth is helping her. Since father is busy with business at the order, I came to walk home with you." Removing his arms from around her, he put one of his hands on her head and gave her a big smile. "Let's go Alex."

"Okay Mikey."

* * *

Grabbing his hand off her head, Alex held onto it tightly as the two of them made their way through the city and back to the Du Noire residence. Along the way, they went through the market street, picking up some fresh bread. Partly because Michael was hungry, and mainly because Alex had yet to actually eat today. For her, this simple moment of eating bread with her brother kind of made her forget the irritation of having to interrupt her studies. As they walked along, Michael began asking Alex about her time at the Academy.

"So, what kind of stuff do they have you studying?"

"Hmm," Alex pondered for a sec while she took another bite of her bread. "Right now, a lot of history and math. I also enrolled in courses for lightning and wind magic, and alchemy magic."

"Wow. So how strong are you right now?"

"I wouldn't say much. Our class had a few mock battles to determine how students were doing, and I've ever lost. But that's mostly due to my Barriers being unnaturally strong. Thanks to that, none of the other kids have managed to even hit me."

"Wow," Michael said, his eyes widening a bit. "So my little sister is actually really strong? Hahah! My little sister is unbeatable!"

"Come on Mikey!" Alex complained hitting him lightly in the side. "Don't be so loud. I'm not that strong."

"But you're unbeaten, right? That means you're really strong. Isn't that a good thing?" Michael was honestly praising his little sister. "Oh, so how's the prince and princess?"

"Well, I don't get to see them very much during the day. We usually eat together, and after classes we always practice with each other. Oh, and I'm sharing a room with Ellia."

"Wow. I'm still surprised you made friends with a prince and princess. I'm always worried you'll mess up somehow." Michael said, giving his sister a teasing smile.

"Hey!" Of course Alex knew this, and yet she still fell into his pace. It was a nice pace though, a comfortable one. "I'm gonna get made if you keep saying that Mikey." As if to prove her point, she gave a small pouting face. If anything, Michael only found this to be adorable.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop Alex." Finishing up his bread, Michael again rested his hand on Alex's head. "Hurry up. Mother and Elizabeth are excited to see you. Plus George and Michelle are also happy to be able to see their big sister again."

"Fine, fine." Forcing the last of her bread into her mouth, Alex chewed furiously while picking up the pace. She wouldn't deny that she was also looking forward to seeing her family too.

* * *

Arriving at the Du Noire residence didn't take quite so long, even with the distance. The reason was likely that the two who were walking were both training on a daily basis, so their stamina was fairly good. That, and at some point the two of them ended up getting into some sort of childish race. It doesn't need to be said, but Alex ended up beating Michael. If only because of her magically enhanced speed and her naturally freakish agility.

Walking through the door she hadn't seen in half a year, Alex felt a strange sort of nostalgia. Or would you call it nostalgia if it's only been half a year? She couldn't tell you, nor did she really care. The sights, the smell, and noise. It was all familiar to her, and she preferred it greatly over the Academy's gray and dull halls.

"Mother!" Michael shouted as soon as he stepped in. "Mother! Come look at who I've brought home today!"

"Coming dear!" The reply came from the direction of the kitchen. Considering it was nearly midday, she was likely preparing lunch for the family. Out she came wiping her hands on her apron when she saw Alex, and immediately a smile lit up her face. "Alexandra. You're home." With a warm and happy smile adorning her face, Marriene moved in to give her daughter a hug. Alex of course returned the hug right back.

"I'm home." And for Alex, it felt right now like she truly was.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to prepare more for the meal than I originally planned. You can go and place your things into your room. It's exactly as you left it before, dear. After you get everything set up, come back down and give me a hand, okay? Your father should also be coming home for lunch."

"Alright." Excitedly, Alex ran up to her room and placed her bag on her bed. As her mother had said, the room looked the same as when she had left, sans the bag now sitting on her bed. Right now, she wanted to hop into her old bed and just bask in the softness. But her mother had asked for a hand, and who was she not to oblige?

* * *

Right as Marriene, Elizabeth, and Alex finished preparing the meal, her father arrived home. After everything was finished with the preparations, she helped her mother and older sister bring the food out to the table, getting a small look of surprise from her father.

"Alexandra, you're home. I didn't think you'd be here until later."

"Hi papa!" After placing her load down, Alex gave her father a big hug. "They let us out early today, so I decided to come home early. Plus Mikey came to pick me up."

"Oh really? Good job looking out for your sister Michael."

"Oh come on father. You were also looking forward to seeing Alex. I just decided to get her a little sooner is all."

"Well alright then. How about we eat? I'm starved."

"Alright."

Lunch was a lively time for the Du Noire family. With Alex, Michael, Elizabeth, George, Michelle, their mother, and their father all at the table chatting away, the time seemed to pass rather quickly. While her parents asked her questions about how her life was, if she needed anything while she was there, and if she'd managed to do well, her siblings asked questions more like if she'd made friends or done any really awesome magic stuff yet. With so many questions coming at her, even Alex felt slightly overwhelmed for a bit. Eventually as the questions slowed down, as did lunch, the family began to clear everything away.

"Oh man, that was delicious as always mother." Michael said. "Now," a hint of mischief in his eyes. "How about Alex and me have a little match? I wanna see if my little sister's sword skills got dull. Ahh, but no Barriers!"

"You're just afraid that I would win with them."

"No. I just want to have a fair chance at winning is all."

"That's alright. I'll give you the handicap."

"Why you cheeky little..." Michael said, mumbling the rest under his breath. He was still smiling provocatively at his little sister, but now that smile had a little more in it. A stubborn will not to lose. Considering her magic had given her the upper hand ever since she was four, he felt that without it he could beat her. But before they could start, their father interrupted.

"Now Michael, there's no need for you and your sister to immediately fight upon her return. Let her rest for the day, alright? There'll be plenty of time for sparring later."

"Yes father." When Sebastian spoke, his children listened. He was a very gentle and loving father, but he also knew when it was time to lay a heavy hand down. His children loved him and respected him. "So tomorrow then for morning practice?"

"You're on!"

"Oy," Sebastian sighed. There was no discouraging these two. "Well Alexandra, if you'd like, could you show me some of the magic you've learned? I'm curious as to what they were teaching you there."

"Sure Papa, I don't mind."

"Then can I come along Alex?" Michael asked. Seeing his sister perform magic was something that he couldn't resist.

"Sure Mikey, I don't mind. Do you want to watch too Lizzy?" She asked her older sister as she was taking away the tableware and such from the table.

"Hmm, maybe after I've finished helping mother with cleaning up the table." Ever diligent, she placed helping her mother over her curiosity, a trait that would make her an excellent wife some day, and make some man very lucky.

"Okay then. I'll show you guys in the yard then."

* * *

Making their way out to the yard, Michael and Sebastian stood to the side. As for what Alex would show them, she wasn't too sure initially. She wanted what she showed off to be amazing, but she didn't really get taught very many flashy or spectacular spells while she was studying the past few months. For the most part, the things she had learned to wieldbeen taught were simple and practical, or in the case of certain spells, improvised. But it's not like she had to do too much. So she decided to start with something simple.

"Okay then. I'll start with a basic lightning bolt." In her hand, Alex imagined a battery. Into that battery, she began to pour her Arcana, imagining it as an electrical charge. If anything, one of the ideas that had long since helped her with controlling her lightning magic was imagining her own body as a sort of producer or conduit. The human body has so many nerves in it, each sending signals throughout the body via electrical impulses. By imagining those little nerves as supplying the electricity for her lightning magic, Alex had surprisingly decreased the necessary time for drawing the energy for such spells drastically. It impressed her instructor quite a bit too, who didn't understand a single word of what she'd tried explaining to him about nerves and such.

Looking at a tree in the distance, Alex pointed her palm toward. Merely a second after she began, she fired a line of electricity straight from her palm, the bolt flying straight towards the tree, stopping just short. She didn't nearly have the strength yet to project it so far, but it still had a decent reach about thirty meters or so. Looking back at her father and brother, she could see two completely different looks in their eyes. Her father was appraising her ability as a warrior would, checking her technique and strength with an observatory eye. Her brother, on the other hand, looked amazed at how his little sister just casually flung lightning from the palm of her hand.

"Not a bad one Alexandra. Lightning is one of the better, more offensive elements of magic. While it loses out to fire in raw power and aggression, it can make up for it with precision and speed. Work on that spell, as it will likely make up the bulk of your long ranged capabilities in the future." Sebastian could only advise his daughter while he nodded his head. What he didn't realize is that she was already working on a project that would render the very idea and concept of requiring magic for long range warfare to be obsolete. But by her own admission, she was still a couple of years away from being able to put together a working rifle. For now, a side arm would have to suffice.

"Whoa, so that's lightning? It looked so cool, and fast. Much quicker than when I try to launch a Frost Arrow."

"Frost Arrow?" Alex asked her brother this reflexively. With about a second of actual thought, she could easily figure out that it was probably a basic ice spell that created and launched a small projectile made of ice. The only reason she asked was mostly out of reflex.

"Yeah. It's a beginner level frost spell that father taught me." Holding up his hand, Michael began to create a small crystal of ice. If Alex had to describe it, it had an oval like shape, close to a football, but thinner. The ends were jagged and pointed off. After a few seconds, he turned toward the same tree Alex targeted with her magic and threw his own spell at it, the ice arcing down and embedding itself in the soil just a few meters away. "It's a pretty useful spell. Unlike with fire or lightning, the magic doesn't really disappear. The ice is there and stays there. The biggest downside to the spell would be how long it takes to form the initial ice though. Compared to it, your lightning was really fast."

"Have you ever tried speeding up the gathering process?" Alex asked him seriously. This question elicited a small look of confusion from Michael. Seeing this, she decided to explain further. "Have you tried other ways of forming the ice in your mind?"

"Yeah, but the speed never really changes."

"If you need to launch it at something quickly, why not throw it when it's only half formed?"

"Half formed?" At this suggestion, both Michael and Sebastian showed a look of surprise.

"Start throwing the spell right before it's completely formed, and form it along the way. You might need to increase the required Arcana a bit, but it should allow you to use the spell slightly faster. It's something we came up with while training. We call it 'half-casting'." As Alex explained, a few memories of her practicing this back in the Academy surfaced in her mind. It was fairly difficult in practice, no matter how simple it sounded in theory. But learning it would help anyone with a penchant for swordplay incorporate their spells into their style much more efficiently.

The idea had actually come to her while she was fighting Lance. His Firebolts always missed her by a bit, mostly because the time it took him to gather the fire ended up wasting his chance to use it. Eventually, Alex came up with the idea and suggested it to Lance. Since she brought it up, she felt compelled to help him learn it, so she came up with new ways to try and train the thought. It took the two a month of practice before Lance could successfully half-cast a Firebolt. By that time, he was hitting her a lot more. Not to any effect of course, due to her solid defense. But still, at least he was hitting her.

On a side note, the idea and theory were almost completely useless to Alex due to the nature of her magic. Wind type magic tended to be formed from what was already gathered, the air around them. Trying the same theory with it would only end up with a net loss of Arcana in the Arcana utilized to effect ratio. Especially as many wind type spells used offensively, of which there were few to begin with, acted less as a projectile and more like a simple transference of motion. Like a wave through water, so to speak.

As for her other offensive type of magic, that had another issue altogether. Lightning type magic was, in essence, one of the fastest in attacking. The travel time of a Lightning Bolt compared to a Firebolt was about a quarter of the latter's. By the time the spell begins in gaining power after being half-casted, it would have likely already reached the intended target, with less impact than required or preferred. For this sort, it was best to simply gather as much as you could as quickly as you could. Half-casting lightning magic would get one nowhere without nigh inhuman magical talent.

"Could you explain a little better Alex?" Michael asked, confusion clear on his face. It wasn't as if she could blame him though, especially as the theory behind this sort of technique was still new and crazy enough to probably be called insane by any normal magician. But as she had been working with Lance, she at least had an idea of where to start.

* * *

For the next couple of hours, Alex actively set about teaching Michael the theory and process of half-casting while her father watched on from the sideline. Compared to Lance, who had a prodigious understanding of magic, Michael had more trouble grasping the concept. This led to Alex having to explain something multiple times in order to get it to stick with him. It wasn't that he was dumb, but rather that this technique was simply not meant for someone at his level. By the time Elizabeth and Marriene came out to gather everyone for dinner, Michael had made almost no progress. Rather, he was almost utterly exhausted from using most of his Arcana.

"Don't worry Mikey. You'll get it eventually."

"That's... easy for you... to say," he gasped out between breaths for air. "You're... a genius... with magic."

"That's enough for now. Let's go in and grab some food, alright?"

"Sure papa!"

"Yes... father."

* * *

Following their father inside, the trio sat down at the table to eat. Of course for Alex, this was a welcome dinner, especially compared to the Academy. That is not to say that the food they served was bad. It was simply that it lacked the sort of... warmth that a home cooked meal provided. Plus, and she may be a bit biased here, Alex thought her mother's cooking was the best in Cernostra. After their meal had passed and the plates and table were cleaned, the Marriene retired to her room for some rest while the children and Sebastian gathered in the parlor.

"So, father," Michael began. "Would you recount some of your stories to us of your adventures?"

"Yeah!" Hearing Michael say so, Alex's curiosity peaked. She'd heard a lot of people tell her just how amazing her father was, but he'd never spoken a word of his tales to her or her siblings. She was curious about just what sorts of stories he would have. "Tell us one papa."

"Well, if you're all so keen, then I guess I'll oblige." Sebastian said, motioning for his kids to get closer. Holding his dominant hand to his chin, he made a face as though he were trying to think of which sort of story to tell them when a thought occurred. "Oh, I got it! Alright then, I'll tell you a story from my days back in the Ignite Order."

"Ignite Order?" Hearing this confused Alex. It was the first she'd heard of her father being a part of any knight order besides the Golden Lion's Vanguard. "Who're they?"

"Right, Alex hasn't heard of the Ignites yet, has she?" Michael said, seeming to realize about how they've never once mentioned it to her.

"Right. The Ignites are a special group. Not exactly a knight order though. They're a sort of mercenary guild that employs warriors and the like to take on and engage in contracts to fight monsters. The full name is the Independently Guided Knight Order, or the IG-Knights." At this, Sebastian took a second to pause and collect his thoughts. Across his face, Alex could swear she saw a look that gave her the impression of longing or reminiscence. Shortly, he continued. "Beholden to no one country, they operate in every corner of the continent. They can cross any border, and go anywhere they need in the line of duty. But for all this freedom, one must rescind their family name for as long as they are a part of the order."

"Why is that papa?"

"That's because all Ignites are equal, regardless of whether they are nobles or farmers. To try and use one's family name or position to advance their own positions in the Ignite Order is punishable with banishment."

"Oh, okay."

"Back when I was just reaching the age of seventeen, I decided to join the Ignites. My parents were staunchly against my decision, wanting me to instead become a true knight like my father, and my older brother."

* * *

 _At the time I had joined, I was just starting to get a better grasp of my own capabilities. Since my youth, I was always celebrated due to my potential. My parents had always afforded me the best education they could prior to my entering the Royal Institute of Knighthood Preparation. Even during the course of my stay, they had always tried to ensure that I was well taken care of and prepared. I was truly blessed with caring parents._

 _But I didn't like it. That kind of stifling atmosphere did nothing to help me become better. After I graduated from the Institute, I became an apprentice in the Golden Lion's Vanguard, learning under the tutelage of then-captain Margove. He was an excellent knight, and only he ever saw fit to test my capabilities. My daily training under him was a never ending stream of fights against other senior knights. At first, it was one daily. Then two. And then five. By the time I had reached my seventeenth spring, I could fight and best ten men in battle._

 _But I got sick of it. The same sort of thing every day, fighting the same men who grew to resent me. A kid, who knowing nothing of the world would defeat them with a look as though to say that victory was only expected. It was then that I overheard some of them talking about me on guard duty. I heard them mention of the Ignites looking for new recruits, heard them talk of them recruiting in capital, and I heard them speak of how I would be better off there. But I let it bother me not. I continued on my day to day routine._

 _It was about a fortnight later that I happened upon an Ignite in town. At first, I would never have guessed that the man before me was one. The armor he wore was nicked and scratched, and showed evidence of having been burned. His clothes were miscolored in some spots, and torn at others. His sword was of simple and unimpressive make. All in all, he didn't fit with the image of someone associated with the word 'knight'. But for some reason, I felt curious. So I struck up a conversation with him._

 _He told me about the adventures an Ignite could go on. He told me of the places he had been, the people he had met, and the beasts he had encountered. The more I listened to him, the more I could feel my heart grow restless. This sounded amazing. It sounded wondrous. It sounded exactly like what I had been hoping for. A test. A challenge. Ad so I asked him what it took to become an Ignite._

* * *

"Courage _," he said. And I nodded, for I had plenty of courage._

* * *

"Strength _," he said, and in my hubris I could only smile. For at that time, I believed myself truly invincible._

* * *

"And sacrifice _," he finished. At this, I could only wonder what he meant by sacrifice. The giving of my name? I did not care, for such a thing did not provide me with the adventure I desired. The giving of my blood? If I stayed on the path of knighthood, I would have eventually reached the same end. There was no sacrifice I could think of that dissuaded me._

* * *

 _And so I asked him to show me how I could join._

 _My parents of course had refused. They told me that someone of my gifts should serve his majesty. And since a young age, I had been groomed for just that purpose. But I didn't want that life, and I wouldn't allow them to force it on me. I went to Captain Margove and told him of my decision to withdraw from the Golden Lion's Vanguard. He looked at me for a minute, his face inscrutable, before he sighed. He said he saw this coming from a mile away. He let me go with little fanfare or issue. That evening, I was a member of the Ignites._

 _My first adventure came about two or three nights later. I was in the Ignite's hall, stationed in the capital, when a requestor came to make a plea for aid. The request was to slay a bear-type Arcane Beast. The creature, warped through exposure to dark magicks, was the sort of beast that would normally take a small squad to subdue. But with my vanity clouding my judgment, I assumed that I alone would be able to defeat it._

 _At first, they would not accept my taking of the task. As I was just a new, young recruit, they said I would be unable to defeat it. I did not care for that sort of talk, and so I continued to pester them until I was allowed to take the assignment. The pay was good, but the danger was what really had me interested. Without further ado, I immediately set about to the place specified in the request. All I brought with me was the armor on my back, the blade at my waist, and a sack of supplies slung over my shoulder. I believed that it would be a simple battle for me, and I prepared as lightly as I could so as to proceed back home with all due haste upon completion._

 _I did not expect that the beast would be my equal. I did not expect that the beast would be able to corner me. I did not truly expect that the beast would be able to push me to a level I had not previously experienced. And it it did all of that an more. It opened my eyes to what a fool I was, and showed me that I had much to learn._

 _When I first found it, the creature struck an imposing figure. Even resting, it's form towered over me. When it stood up, it appeared as though the earth had grown legs. When it reared onto it's hind feet, I felt as though I was fighting a mountain. To the me then, it was as though I were fighting a creature of myth, and not some real beast before me._

 _Heedless of the anxiety welling up in myself, I charged toward the monster, blade high, ready to bring it to fall upon it's head. But it's instincts were sharp, and before steel could meet flesh, it got up and moved. In the end, I only managed to wound it's flank. It's hide was strong, enough so that it almost felt like my blade tore through iron mail rather than a living being. And with a roar, it showed anger upon it's face. I had but a short moment to bring my blade up before it's great paw smashed into me and sent me flying. As I landed hard upon my back, I could see stars dancing before my eyes. It was the first time I was ever struck by something mightier than I, and it made me understand that I had met my match._

 _Remembering the danger I was in, I scrambled to my feet and brought my blade up once more. Before me, the creature eyed me warily. The cut in it's flank was matched by the bruise now spreading over my ribs. It was hurt, and so was I. We faced each other, a solid minute passing by with neither of us moving an inch. This beast knew that I was no easy prey, and it treated me cautiously. I too knew that this beast would be no sort of simple opponent, and so I held back and readied myself for what would be a defining strike._

 _Finally, my patience peaking, I made the first move. With all of the strength my legs could muster, I leaped toward the terrible beast, blade out to thrust through it great maw. Rearing back, it stood upon it's hind legs, intent on trying to fell me with a great strike. As it brought it's paw down, I held up my sword with both hands to protect myself, and immediately felt as though th weight of the sky were pressed upon my blade. It's sheer power brought me to my knee. But I did not falter, and it gave me the opportunity I needed. Throwing it's paw to the side, I brought my blade around and sliced off the creatures forearm._

 _The beast howled in anger, and I in blood lust. This was a fight to survive now, and I had taken the initiative. Crippled now, I pressed my attack upon the beast, targeting it's now open face. With a few strokes, I had slashed and scarred the beast, taking one of's it eyes and it's nose. Half blinded, unable to smell, and without an arm, the beast that had previously caused me to fear was now helpless before my blade. But I savored the moment. It was the first monster I slew, and I relished in the moment. As the loss of blood weakened it, and it's strength waned, I brought my blade through the skull. At first, I could barely penetrate the skull. But I desired victory, and at any cost. I hammered the blade into it's skull with my fist, my knuckles bleeding as I battered them against the pommel of my sword. Finally it's skull gave way and my blade plunged through ending the great beast's life._

 _Leaving my blade in it's skull, I took a minute to collect myself, rest, and recuperate my energy. Once I felt satisfied, I pried my blade from the skulls, took it's claws and teeth as proof of finishing the request, and began to make my way back to claim my prize. My ribs throbbing in pain, arms heavy from fatigue, and body tired from my first ever true fight. And yet I was smiling despite the pain. It was the greatest battle of my life at the time, and it gave me a sense of satisfaction._

 _I returned to the Ignite's hall, and was met with surprise. When I finished the request, they would not believe that I had done so by myself. But I had the requested proof, and eventually they relented._

* * *

"That was when I felt for the first time that I was truly an Ignite. Slaying monsters, fighting for the people. But most importantly, finding something to test myself. It was a moment that would forever live with me." Sebastian finished his story with reminiscent look upon his face.

To Alex though, it was amazing. He took on a creature that would be comparable to Grimm that Ruby fought known as Ursa. Large, bear like creatures. The strength they held, Alex could only currently imagine. She didn't know how enough to compare them to Ursai, but she knew that it had to be an impressive feat. Here, where no warrior was protected by the force that Huntsmen and Huntresses know as Aura, such damage could prove fatal. And yet he still managed to fight such a thing despite this lack of protection, and came out on top. And no doubt he'd fought greater things since.

As he continued on, Alex still focused on the monsters. Would she be able to fight such things in the future? In Remnant, Ruby would hunt down great creatures of Grimm, based on all sorts of dangerous beings. Bears, wolves, tigers, lions, dragons. There was no shortage of fantastical monsters to fight. And according to her father, there were such monsters here.

This confirmed to Alex her own feelings from before. Regardless of how Ruby had died, she would again take up the mantle of a warrior and she would hunt down monsters. Blade in hand, and now magic to aid, she would fight defeat these monsters, defend the people, and she would go on every adventure she could. This was the future she looked forward to.

In the fairytale she desired, she would not be the damsel of a princess. Nor did she want to be the noble knight on a white steed. She would instead be the hunter. The huntress. The one that always defeats the evil in the background. Because that was what she truly wanted this time.

To be a proper Huntress.

* * *

 **Author's Corner**

 **Hey guys, Dravyn here (duh). Here's another chapter of Re:RWBY, a story that has absolutely nothing to do with any similarly named anime or manga. Seriously, the Re: part stands for "Reincarnated". Not "Redo", or "King", or anything else you may have though of. You have no idea how many times I get asked why I chose that name (or maybe you do, considering you guys are often the ones asking.)**

 **Well, quick Q &A time. As before, I'm goign to paraphrase questions to make them easier to answer.**

* * *

 **Q:** What time period is this? What sort of technology is there?

 **A:** This is the most asked question I've gotten. The general time period is something around the level of the manga/ anime Berserk. Medieval, but with hints of advancement. Gunpowder and canons area thing, as are such creations as repeater crossbows and such. No guns though (yet...) Granted, nothing too advanced exists yet.

* * *

 **Q:** Will her silver-eyed warrior powers mean anything here?

 **A:** Truth be told, I haven't exactly though about that. Since I've started going through the questions and seeing this one pop up, I've had a few ideas begin circulating around my head. But those are still without a proper form. I'll let you guys know more in the future if there are any plans or not.

* * *

 **Q:** Will Ruby/Alex's past life affect her at all?

 **A:** Except for her knowledge and skill, not too much. I'm still playing around with that.

* * *

 **Q:** Are monster's bodies used in this world as raw materials?

 **A:** Yes and no. It depends on the person. Monsters in this world come in two forms. Chaotic type, and Natural type. The Chaotic type are monsters formed from otherworldy elements, like demon sorts of beings, undeads, etc. Natural types are monsters formed from animals and other beings altered by a negative influence from Arcana. These types are referred to as Arcane Beasts. More to follow on them later. Anyhow, some people use their body parts for weapons, while others prefer conventional materials. As for the taste, well that varies from person to person.

* * *

 **Q:** Will there be other humanoid races (elves, beastmen, etc.)?

 **A:** I dunno. I'll let you guys decided this one. If you wanna see some other races, let me know in the comments. If I see enough requests, I'll try putting some in.

* * *

 **Q:** Was it Dinah who killed Ruby?

 **A:** To the reader "Stuff" who asked this question, thank you. Someone noticed my little insider joke. To those of you unaware, Dinah is the name of one of Ruby's Beowolf companions in another story of mine, 'The Red Queen'. I purposely gave a description vaguely similar to Dinah in hopes that someone would notice it, and kudos to you Stuff for having been that someone. Then again, to anyone who's read that story, it's understandable as to why you might not realize that was Dinah. In 'The Red Queen', she's vastly overpowered, and nigh unbeatable. Had to nerf the crap out of her here to make it so Ruby could kill her. But meh.

* * *

 **Q:** Was this inspired by D&D (Dungeons and Dragons)?

 **A:** No. But admittedly, some of the names of magic spells were. I throw quite a few references to Dungeons and Dragons in this story mostly due to how much I would play it during deployment. Fun fact: Transporting a pencil, paper, and a set of dice is a lot easier than bringing a PlayStation or a laptop onto a Carrier. Very popular game among sailors. No, I'm not even joking. It really is.

* * *

 **That's about all for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time. Remember, comments, criticisms, and questions are all welcome. Ciao!**

 **Dravyn out!**


	5. Update: I'm Alive

_**Hey guys, Dravyn here for the first time in quite a while.**_

 _ **Just gonna say a few things real quick. To start off, work is getting extremely hectic. This is why I've been gone so long. Furthermore, I haven't had access to my own laptop or tablet the past few months (security crap, go figure) meaning I couldn't even work on my writing. All in all, it's been one hell of a mess to deal with.**_

 _ **For now, I have some down time. The only issue is I have absolutely no idea how long this will last. It could be a month, a week, or even tomorrow. Regardless, I'm going to try and get a chapter or two knocked out while I still have the chance for my stories. Don't hold your breath though. Still working a lot during this so-called down time, so opportunities to write will be sparse. I'm working on it, I promise.**_

 _ **As for what updates will come when, I will likely be updating Re:RWBY first due to already having had a portion of chapter 5 ready before we had to sail out. Following that, we should see The Red Queen updated within the week after (should I still be here). Overall, this is gonna require luck, and my best friend: Monster. Go figure, my corpsmen can't understand how I can drink 7-9 cans of that stuff a day, every day, and not have already died from a heart attack (or maybe I have already died, and this is just someone else using the pen name Dravyn LeCrux. You never know…).**_

 _ **So, other updates. Work sucks, depression is an unrelenting bitch, and I'm fairly certain that drinking so much Monster is making me immune to the effects of sleep aids, much to my detriment and further depression. Oh, and I missed you all (except for the haters, my sniper friends will be at your homes shortly), and I can't wait to get some new chapter out, if at all, should time allow.**_

 _ **I'm posting this notice to both of my current series that aren't on a bad hiatus, so if you read this once, you don't have to read the other.**_

 _ **Anyhow, you know the deal. Comme- wait, no. This wasn't a regular chapter. Never mind. See you all later!**_

 _ **Dravyn out!**_


	6. Re: Celebration

Waking up in her own bed today threw Alex off if just for a little bit. She was used to waking up staring at the stone cold grey ceiling in the academy, in a bed that was much softer. That's not to say her own bed was uncomfortable, as she actually kind of preferred a more firm bed. But what threw her off was that she was home, something she forgot as she slept. It was nice to wake up the familiar sights and smells of her own home.

As she adjusted to being awake, mind a little groggy and such, she looked around her room, noticing how it was kept pretty much the same since she left. She took a second to appreciate how nice it was to have such a caring family before hoisting herself out of her bed. Throwing on some appropriately comfortable clothes, including a simple shirt and some trousers, she began to head downstairs. She knew that her mother and sister would be making breakfast soon, and of course she was a little hungry.

The morning proceeded as normal in the Du Noire household. Breakfast was interlaced with further conversations about the kinds of things Alex had been learning, as well as further concerns from her family about whether or not she was fine and had what she needed. She of course let them know of what her daily life was like, told them about the school took care of her, and what projects she was working on. Well, most of them. A certain one was withheld from them for obvious reasons. After all, how do you explain the existence a gun to your parents who believe that canons are likely the only weapons around better than a bow and arrow or a crossbow? One thing at a time.

After the meal came practice, of course. Sure she continued to cross swords with Lance, but her father was a far better swordsman and wanted to help instruct his daughter. Picking up the wooden practice swords, Alex stood across from her brother. As per the rules set down before hand, she would not be using her barrier magic. She also noted that she would not be using her lightning or other such ranged magic, believing that against her brother, who lacked such options, it would be rather unfair. Overall, it was a rather even fight for a time. While her ability to track his movement, as well as her good reflexes kept her relevant in the fight, her brother had received proper instruction from their father this whole time. Meanwhile, she had only sparred with the somewhat equally inexperienced Lancelot.

Without using her magic she fell behind in terms of actual strength. Well, that's not entirely true. She did not opt to use lightning, plant, wind, or protection magic. She was still, however, utilizing her healing magic. Well, subtly at least. As she fought on, she more or less applied healing magic around herself similar in effect to the barrier she usually wore. It had an effect similar to an anesthetic, while also slowly fixing any bruises or such she got during the match. She equated it to a Regenerative skill from a videogame of sorts. It doesn't offset all of the damage, but it makes it manageable.

Due to her being able to mitigate the damage she received, she eventually to beat Michael, albeit only because he got too tired to continue. Another side effect of the healing magic was a reduced amount of fatigue, mostly due to her muscles healing themselves as they worked themselves to perform at their peak. You could say this was the wrong way to use healing magic, or you could say that it was an ingenious way to use it. Regardless, it works. After the spar was declared over, the rest of the day was spent with her family, or working on her project, something that was coming along splendidly at the moment.

* * *

The next couple of days proceeded much the same way though. After finishing up morning practice with some more lessons from her father, the rest of the day felt like it was open. She often spent the time getting a little more progress finished on her project, or helping her mother and sister around the house. Today, as a way to break the mold, Michael and Elizabeth decided to take her out to town to spend some time with her. Elizabeth was asked to buy some food, and Michael was often sent as a sort of bodyguard for his sister. Meanwhile, they decided to bring along Alex and make it a sibling outing. As the twins were still rather young, they were left at home.

The market place was bustling, though not to anyone's surprise. The area the market comprised of took a large portion of the business district. Dozens of stands and fronts, all showing off different things. A few had fruits, other had vegetables. And there were of course those that showed off an assortment of meats and such. But aside from the food, there were stalls and merchants with things like cutlery, earthenware, tapestry, clothing, jewelry, and other such things. If it were not for her siblings knowing the area rather well, and sticking close to her, Alex would have felt a bit overwhelmed. She did poorly in crowds, and this place was a nightmare to her.

Sticking close to Michael and Elizabeth, she followed along and wove through the crowds with her siblings, there destination or or less set. One by one, they visited the necessary stalls to gather what they came here for, eventually carrying quite a bit of vegetables, meats, spices, and grain. It was a little much, so Alex also had to help out by carrying some of it. The people who ran the stalls were a little too nice, especially as they apparently knew her siblings and gave them a little more. Turns out being the children of one of the most well known and respected knights in the country had it's perks.

Arms loaded with their spoils, the trio made their way back home. It was a fairly uneventful trip, but still rather nice. Rather than just studying so much, she actually got to have some fun and be a kid for a bit. And the time with her family was nice they made their way back, a voice caught their attention.

"Alex!"

Looking back, she could see a pair of fraternal twins calling out to her. It was Lance and Ellia. Of course while to Alex they were just friends, to her siblings they were royalty. For a second, the two almost looked panicked as the twins made their way over.

"Hi Lance, Ellia. How has your vacation been so far?"

It had been about four days since the vacation began. Tomorrow would be the celebration for the returning soldiers and knights that had allowed them to have this little break. Of course her father would be going, having been one of the returning warriors. Due to this, the whole family was planning on going for the little outing. It'd be interesting to eat out for dinner once, and Alex kind of looked forward to the celebrations and such. But regardless, these were thoughts for another time.

"Not too bad so far. I've mostly been training my swordsmanship with my older brothers." Saying so, he began to rub a spot on his arm. Noticing it just now, Alex could see a rather dark bruise there. It was likely the result of him taking a vicious blow. Then again, she caused him her fair share of bruises too, so she couldn't exactly judge. "Just finished up for the morning."

"I still cannot believe you two couldn't even have taken it a little easier. Practice your magic a bit!"

"I did. I had my barriers deflecting most of the attacks. I just lost concentration for a second and let one slip through. Nothing to worry about."

"There is when you do it in such a dumb way."

"How so?" Alex was curious as to what Ellia meant by that.

"He makes a barrier in the shape of a round shield and uses that for protection, instead of doing it like you and spreading it over his body." She shook her head and sighed at this. "If he would just do what you do, then he'd take less hits during training. He always gets so many bruises."

"I'm fine Ellia. If I can't get used to being hit a few times by a fake sword, then I have no chance of becoming a good warrior." Lancelot looked unperturbed by his sister's words. "Besides, I may not always have the ability to use my magic. Knowing how to use a regular shield works well too. This let's me train both at the same time."

As the twins conversed with themselves for a bit, both Michael and Elizabeth looked sort of worried. Of course they knew their sister was friends with the prince and princess, but that did not mean that the two of them knew how to interact with royalty, if at all. While Alex may have had the mindset of Ruby, who was born in a time where monarchies weren't such a thing, these two did not.

"Ahh, but where are my manners," Lance said, skillfully evading the conversation with his twin and preventing it from getting into an argument. "You two are Elizabeth and Michael, correct?" He turned to the two and addressed them.

"Y-yes your highness!" Michael stammered out. In his training to become a knight, his father had taught him what basic courtesies were expected of him. Only due to this was he able to properly speak compared to his sister. While they might have met before, he was still well aware of his station and acted appropriately as was socially fitting. "I'm honored that you would remember our names."

"It's nothing special. Alex talks about you two often, and always has good things to say," as he turned towards Elizabeth. "-about her sister. The only things she says about you are that you like to torture her, are very mean, and usually try to take her dessert away." Lance said all of this with a very straight face, eliciting a sort of panicked look from Michael.

"Whoa, that's not true at all." Michael grabbed his little sister into a playful headlock and gave a weak smile. "My little sister here likes to joke a lot, right?"

"No, you really are mean Mikey."

Michael dejected face at having the one he would serve someday look at him in a worried manner made his heart sink. That is up until Lance cracked a bit and let a smile creep onto his face. Meanwhile in his arms, Alex began to giggle uncontrollably. He was thoroughly confused for a minute until he put two and two together and found out that his sister was teasing him.

"Why you-" Forgetting his decorum for a bit, Michael began to playfully ruffle his sister's hair, giving her a false show of anger. If anything, he was kind of also chuckling on the inside. "I'll show you to make fun of your older brother!"

"I'm sorry Mikey," Alex said, in between her little giggles.

"My apologies for the jest. I just couldn't resist having a little fun."

"It's fine your highness. It's all this one's fault," he said, pointing to Alex.

While the three of them messed around, Ellia went and struck up a conversation with Elizabeth.

"G-good day y-your highness." Unlike her siblings who were in positions to be more comfortable around nobility, or just be used to them in general, Elizabeth was training at home to be a normal girl. She could cook, clean, was learning to sew, and even was to be taught how to manage funds by her mother soon. Nowhere in all of that did she learn proper etiquette for talking to nobles, royals, or anyone else of such a stature.

"Oh please, just relax." She turned her head over to the other three. "Your siblings sure figured out how to rather quickly."

"I'm sorry for how Alexandra acts. She fell on her head when she was younger, and ever since she tries to act and speak like an adult sometimes." She assumed that Ellia had hinted towards some sort of issue with how Alex addressed both her and her twin brother. Of course Ellia didn't actually mind by this point, considering Alex to be a good friend. But Elizabeth couldn't very well understand that without some context.

"It's fine," Ellia said, waving off the comment. That said, she did get a funny little tidbit to use to mess with Alex later. "It's stifling when people address my brother and I so formally. Granted, she could learn a little more respect, but with how strong she is I doubt many other kids can teach her a lesson."

"Is Alex really so strong?"

"Are you kidding me? Your sister's defense is so freakishly tough that the other children at the academy constantly complain when it comes to practical tests. She's like a stone wall to us." Ellia gave an exasperated sigh at the thought of trying to break Alex's barriers. "It's become a point that the professors have begun forbidding her from using her barriers during a practical spar because it makes the fight too uneven."

"I know Michael has spoken before of how hard it is to hit Alex, but I never thought it'd be like this."

"Yup. Your sister is a monster. Even the instructors say that she is unexplainable. Apparently, she can make barriers as effective as the middle grade students in their fourth or fifth year. They say that her defensive magic is at the same level as those who've practiced for years. She truly is too prodigious." Ellia shook her head.

Of course nobody really knew that she actually _had_ been practicing her barriers for years, keeping them constantly going when she had the time or could concentrate on it. Compared to students who had to focus on studies, or had other tasks to perform, Alex had far more time to devote early on to perfecting her defensive magic. At least until she became a student. Still, what's done is done.

"Lizzy, do you mind if Lance and Ellia come back with us?" Alex interjected, apparently having finished with her own conversation. "Mikey already said it was fine, but I wanted to check with you too." Getting the patented Adorable Alex Eyes from her little sister, Elizabeth wasn't going to tell her no. However, this was a surprise her parents would likely not take too well. She gave an internal sigh as she gave an external nod.

"Excellent!" Lance said. While his face showed composure, Ellia and Alex knew that he was likely looking forward to being able to meet Sebastian again. For him, Alex's father was a hero. He was the true and perfect form of the knight that Lance desired to become.

* * *

With two new additions, the group made their way back to the Du Noire residence. As predicted, both Marriene and Sebastian showed surprise when Lance and Ellia greeted them. It was to be expected, but everything settled down at length. Lance began a conversation with Sebastian about his sword play. Alex looked over to find him so engrossed in every word his hero was saying that she could almost swear that Lance stopped looking like a prince and more like a regular kid now. As for Ellia, she sort of kept a conversation going with Alex while also kind of taking the time to observe both Marriene and Elizabeth as they did housework.

That evening, when the sun began to get low, Lance and Ellia left to go back to their own home. Alex, thinking it wasn't safe, decided to escort them. Of course this was likely due to her being ignorant of how she too was only a child right now. Her mother had raised some complaints, her father having had to head over to the order to handle some business. But Alex grabbed her sword and darted off, assuring her that she would remain safe all the while. She might get an earful for this later, and she knew it.

As it was getting late and the sun was already beginning to fall over the horizon, the city was dyed with a warm tint all over. The usual hustle and bustle was down to just a few persons here and there going about the end of their business. To be frank, the trio stood out against the current setting. Both Ellia and Lance were well dressed, and walked with a poise befitting their station. Meanwhile Alex, who stood a little shorter than either of them, was also dressed well, but had a broadsword hung around her waist. They were indeed a strange sight, not that they cared. If any of their classmates were to see this though, it would likely cause a resurgence of the rumor that Alex was their bodyguard.

As they walked to the castle, nothing really happened. The reason Alex volunteered to go with them was because in most novels and games, this would be the point in time where a group of thieves or some such would jump out, take the two of them hostage, and try to ransom them to their father. Of course Alex knew the odds of this weren't that high, but she also knew they weren't that low either. And just a little part of her wanted to play the part of the knight here. But still, it was uneventful.

After making their way to the castle gates, the trio were stopped by a pair of guards at the front. Upon recognizing Lance and Ellia, they helped usher them on through and sent Alex on her way. Once she'd finished waving goodbye to them, she made her way back home herself. She remained vigilant, thinking something could still happen to her. Again, it was uneventful. Even with the sun now fully beyond the horizon, and darkness having taken a firm hold of the night, nothing really caused her any problems. The streets were well lit with special magic lanterns at regular intervals, giving plenty of light. On top of that, she saw patrols of the city guard here and there along the way. Most of them gave her a curious glance, especially because of how small she was and yet still had a sword hanging at her waist. But after giving them a nice big smile, they just passed on and kept about their patrol.

After getting home, she got the scolding she expected from her mother and even Elizabeth. Once they'd finished, however, her mother told her that it was a good thing she'd escorted the prince and princess, gave her a hug, and sent her off to bed. When she reached her room, instead of bed, Alex began to work on her project.

* * *

It had been a little over six and a half months since she began this project, all the while her only thought being to finish this simple prototype. She grabbed the bag of hers that contained her materials and parts and began to take out the little oilcloth wrapped pieces one by one. Her current goal was the creation of a revolver. Sure, she could have gone with the more simple flintlock or blunderbuss, but both had the weakness of requiring more time between reloads, as well as having a lower round per minute ratio than other guns. Knowing this, Alex decided to skip all of the middle steps and jump straight ahead to making a more modern gun.

Modern guns had weaknesses however, and she knew it. Rifles were more complex and had more parts to work with. On top of it all, they required far more materials to create. And with Alex still not the best with her metallurgical skills, she had to keep it rather simple. And while she could have tried for a semi-automatic pistol, again they were more complex than a basic revolver. In time, she would be able to learn the magical skills required to create these weapons, or perhaps even acquire the opportunity to put her own smithing skills to the test to create them. But for now, simplicity was key to all of this.

Out of all of the required pieces for her project, Alex only needed to finish the actual cylinder. The rest of the gun was already finished and assembled, it's design reminiscent of the S&W M&P Revolver. Simple, elegant, effective. She took out the piece of metal she had been shaping the past two and a half weeks and put it down. The form was mostly done, and all that remained were the finishing touches. After messing up on the last few attempts, she had decided to take this one slower, getting progress done in such increments that an average person wouldn't notice a difference between the steps. If she did it right, she could very well finish this tonight, a thought that almost made her giddy. But she suppressed the desire, instead focusing herself as much as she possibly could on the task before her. She knew what measurements were require,d what the sizes should be, and how to properly mold this. In a little twist, she decided to make the cylinder for this gun hexagonal, a technique employed on more modern revolvers to reduce the profile of the gun when carrying it in a concealed manner. In this case, she mostly wanted to do it because she thought it would look cooler.

Regardless of all of that, she began. Expanding her own mind, Alex carefully reached out with her Arcana, feeling for the metal as she always had. After she confirmed the connection, she began, slowly working on this part. The mental images she used here were as though she herself was creating this piece, imagining the reduction of metal to be done with modern tools such as drills and files. Bit by bit she worked, her concentration never wavering as she molded and shaped this piece to it's finishing form. Time went by, but Alex could not notice. Ten minutes passed. Twenty. Thirty. By the time an hour had gone by, she was still not entirely finished. She kept going.

An hour and a half after beginning tonight, Alex sat back in her chair and looked at the metal before her. And a large, Cheshire grin spread across her face. This was it! Taking the already done portion of the revolver, Alex began to fit in the cylinder, attaching it with the utmost care. After it was done, Alex could barely contain her excitement. It was finished! She had made one successfully. She had made a gun! It was a moment that made her excited, elated, enraptured!

The final product was of a simple, but very beautiful design. The most noticeable differences between this revolver and a normal one of it's make was how this one had the hexagonal cylinder, and the handle itself. For this, Alex had trouble due to the lack of proper polish and such, as well as missing the required tools and materials. She had to make due though, and she acquired a piece of wood from where a nearby construction effort was underway to make a new watchtower. She grabbed a few of the smaller scrap pieces and borrowed a knife from her father. It took her a lot of time, patience, and splinters to finally whittle down the perfect piece for her piece. As for the finish, she didn't have any sort of polish or such. She opted instead to burnish the wood, giving it a beautiful and simple finish. For the end, she made metal wire and formed into into the rose like shape that her old self, Ruby, would often wear as an emblem. After heating it up in a fire, she branded the rose onto both sides of the handle, in a way marking it as hers.

Siting on the table before her was a gun. Something which had always captured her heart, a tool so beautiful in form and function that she couldn't help but love it. Picking it up one more time and testing out the weight with a single hand, she found that the weapon was a little heavier than originally anticipated. Then again, when compared to her adult body that could hold up Crescent Rose, a solid metal, mechanical, and larger-than-her sniper rifle and scythe hybrid, of course this would seem heavier in her childish body. Not that it really mattered as she was able to use magic to slightly improve her strength. And she had some ideas for how to reduce recoil, meaning her overall issues aren't really issues.

Now, there was only one real further issue for her to deal with. Acquiring gunpowder. Or black powder. Whatever they called it here. By all technicalities, they are different things, and Alex knew that. Not like it mattered, because she still had to acquire it. She was, by all technicalities, twenty-five years old. However, she had no idea how she would explain that when trying to acquire a dangerous explosive chemical compound. And sadly, her magic with alchemy didn't seem to allow her to outright create gunpowder. Again, this made her feel cheated compared to those other stories. Why can they make such stuff so early and she can't?!

Regardless of that issue, Alex would have to figure it out. She had some idea, and she knew that she would require some hard work to get it to be actualized in the end. For now, she couldn't do much else, so she just wrapped up her new gun away in the oilcloth, placed it back into her bag, and crawled into her bed. Tonight she felt far more exhausted than usual, likely an aftereffect of using Metallurgy for so long. It was, after all, a very consuming and inefficient magic, and she was still just a neophyte. With this thought in her head, Alex began to drift off to a peaceful sleep, one filled with the loud cracks and bangs of gun shots. And yet on her face was a cherubic smile.

* * *

The next day began like normal, something which she loved. She was awoken by her brother playfully tickling, went down to find breakfast made by her mother and older sister, and afterwards had some sparring with her father and brother. But later on, as the day wore on and the evening began to grow close, the festival welcoming back the soldiers and knights would begin. Considering it was thrown for him and his own, Sebastian would be going, as would the rest of the family. For Alex, and the twins, this would be her first festival in this world. And she was looking forward to it greatly.

Making their way to the central grounds for the celebrations, Alex and her family found a brightly lit venue with more people than she could count. Normally this sort of crowd would leave her trembling, but she was with her family. There was nothing to worry about, and so she kept her heart calm as they began to go around.

Everywhere she looked she saw stands, games, and celebration around. It was almost like a festival back in Vale, and yet felt so much more... antique than that. Makes sense with the level of technology here being lower, not that it was any less impressive to her. The first thing the family did though, as anyone would often do going to one of these events, was head over to the food tents. Something about the atmosphere just made it all taste so much better, as anyone could attest to. Some of the knights from her father's order were there celebrating, and Sebastian went over to have a drink with them. They apparently also knew her mother, as when they looked over they greeted her like an old friend. And judging from her reaction, she had expected it.

With the family, sans Sebastian who was just a table over, seated, the food began to come. It was amazing looking, not to make a dig at her own mother. The food was delicious, but not to the degree that Marriene's was. Hers had that love that only mothers could put into their food, something that Alex loved far more than the exotic and high class food she ate at school. But it was also always plain looking, something that didn't really matter in the grand scheme of taste. This food was more for presentation, but it still did taste very good.

Looking over, Alex saw a side of her father that she rarely ever saw. While he was normally a good father, and was always serious when teaching her brother and her to fight, this was a side that never really showed itself. Her father being a little bashful, and goofy. He had a drink, was surrounded by his friends and brothers in arms, and was probably also infected a little by the atmosphere of the celebrations around them. And the sight made Alex smile quite a bit.

During the meal, a few of the men's families also showed up. Some of the wives began to talk to Marriene. It's not too surprising, when she thought about it, especially as they did have similar circumstances to her mother. As for the kids, Sebastian gave them a small pouch of coins to go and enjoy the festival with, something that Michael was certainly happy with. Of course, as he tried to run off to have some fun, Elizabeth grabbed his collar, pointed to Alex and the twins with the other one, and gave him a stern look that certainly reminded her of her mother.

As a group, the five of them began to go around and look at all of the different things the festival had to offer. The more they looked around, the more Alex's sweet tooth began to ache, especially as there were quite a few stalls with confections and other less-than-common treats and goodies. Candied apples, honey cakes, even some little chocolate things that kinda looked like small jaw breakers to her. Neither Michael nor Elizabeth missed this obvious longing and desire from Alex, and with a wry smile to one another, they leaned over to Alex.

"So, whatcha want little sis?" Michael said.

"Oh no, I'm fine." Alex tried to unconvincingly tell them, but both gave her a look like they weren't falling for it. After he gave her a little eyebrow raise, Alex sheepishly looked down for a sec and then mumbled out "the candied apples look good..."

"See, was that so hard?" Michael said as he reached out to pet his little sister's head. "How about you two? Want some apples too?"

"Apples!" Came a resounding affirmation from the twins, who's eyes were wide and filled with stars at the sights. And probably the prospect of eating some sugary treats.

"Well? Would this be alright?" Michael sarcastically asked Elizabeth, the one who was always a little more level headed and grounded with money and such. There was a good reason she was always sent out to buy the food, and he was 'just her guard' (a.k.a. the bag carrier, you all know what it's like). She gave a quick too to the twins who were looking at her expectantly, and at Alex who was giving the trademark puppy dog eyes, and then gave him a smile that said 'you already know the answer, so why bother asking me?' Heading on over to the candied apple stall, Michael bought a total of four of them. One for him, one for Elizabeth, one for Alex, and one for the twins to share. Considering how young they were, he figured one would be enough for both of them together.

For a little while, the five of the wandered around, checking out the sights. They stopped before the bards and performers, watching their acts with eyes filled full of wonder, and listened to the fairly upbeat and jovial music they performed with all due enjoyment. They watched as a parade of knights on horseback bearing banners and arms came through, looking both imposing and amazing. It was the kind of move generally made by militaries to show off their might. It always served as a good way to make the people feel safer and more secure. Alex distinctly remembered something like this from her time back in Vale, something that blew up into a rather horrible situation back then. But that was a thought for another time. This was a festival.

As they were getting around to maybe trying out some of the games, something caught Alex's eye. Over by one of the games she saw a group of five people, all fairly young looking. Among them, she saw two she thought she recognized. Getting a little closer, she figgured out who they were rather quickly.

"Lance! Ellia!" When she said this, Michael and Elizabeth gave a quick head jerk to the direction she was facing. Likewise, all five of their group turned toward Alex, who had just so called out to the two youngest there so familiarly. Meanwhile Alex just waved to them. Once they noticed her, both Lancelot and Ellia gave a little wave over to her, while the three older ones accompanying them seemed a bit confused.

"Lancelot, Ellia, do you know this girl?" The one Alex assumed was the oldest spoke up. He looked like an older Lance, his pitch black hair tied back neatly into a ponytail that went down to his shoulders. The clothing he wore was of fine make, but didn't seem too posh. Alex assumed that since the rest of them wore similar clothing, they were trying not to call too much attention to themselves here.

"That's Alex, Richard. She's one of our classmates, and friends." Lance told to him. Without really worrying, he gestured Alex over, who let her siblings know what she was doing. Considering who she was going to hang out with, the two didn't give too much of a fuss. They pulled out a few copper coins and gave them to her should she need anything, and let her go with a smile. Once she got over, he introduced her. "Everyone, this is Alexandra Crux Du Noire, daughter of the Wolf Knight Sebastian Williams Du Noire. Ellia and I just call her Alex though."

"Pleased to meet you," Alex greeted them with a small curtsey. Granted, she sucked at being prim and proper, and she knew it. But considering that these three may be their siblings, she tried her hardest to not mess this up. "I'm Alexandra, but you may simply call me Alex if that's too much for you." She finished her introduction with a small, sweet looking smile. This elicited a little grin from the three older siblings for some reason.

"I see," said the other girl. "So you're the one who keeps beating up our younger brother here." She said, pointing to Lance. In hindsight, Alex ruminated over how there likely wasn't many other ways this could've gone. Especially as she had, technically, been beating Lance up in their sparring matches. More or less anyhow. Not that it mattered, and now a fine bead of sweat began to trickle down the back of Alex's neck. This did not feel like the right way to be introduced to her friend's family.

"Oh right, she is, isn't she?" Said the boy with lighter hair, closer to Ellia's color. Giving an exaggerated pose, as though he were carefully looking Alex over while doing so. "She doesn't look very strong." Yeah, he was clearly sizing her up. Why one would do that to a seven year old girl is a question for another day. But perhaps he didn't think too much of that, considering he was likely more fixated on the whole 'constantly fights with and injures his little brother' aspect of the situation.

"Please you two, don't tease the poor girl." The older one said stepping in. "Alex, was it? It's a pleasure to meet you. We've heard quite about about you. I am Richard Leon De Regulus, first prince in line to the royal throne of Cernostra."

"I'm Edward, second prince. For a girl my little sister described as a 'monster', I figured you'd be a little bigger. You're so... tiny." Said the second boy. He seemed to have a little less poise and grace than the older brother. The sister seemed to agree, as she gave a quick smack to the back of his head and admonished him.

"That's not what you're supposed to say to a lady you brute!" While not furious, the look on her face did seem a little mad. Maybe she had to deal with this more often than most. "Pleased to meet you Alex. I'm Jeanne, first princess of Cernostra. It's nice to meet a friend of my siblings."

Yup, as Alex expected, they were Lance and Ellia's siblings. A few questions rung around in her head, especially ones like 'why were royalty casually hanging out as a festival without bodyguards' and 'did I do something wrong by sparring with Lance and not letting him win?' She was half worried, half confused. Meanwhile, Ellia looked exasperated by her siblings, and Lance looked like he would also like to smack his older brother's head.

"I'm sorry for Edward. He's kind of dull when it comes to manners." Ellia said. Evidently, he razor sharp comments didn't only apply to outsiders and Tanya. "According to the maids, he was dropped frequently on his head as a child, leaving his mind in tatters. Such a shame." To emphasize her point, she shook her head slowly and deliberately.

"Ellia, why can't you ever be nice to me?" While Ellia started bickering with her brother, Richard began to talk to Alex.

"So, I hear you do not call our brother by his full name. Why is that?" He asked.

"Well, Lancelot is kind of a mouth full, right? Shortening it to Lance is easier." Alex gave a blunt and simple reply. Just the way she always did. Meanwhile, Richard began to give a chuckle in response.

"Ha, such a reason! I've never seen someone shorten a prince's name without being put in chains." Seeing Alex's eyes grow wide, and her white skin grow a little more pale, he hurriedly tried to assuage her fears. "It was a just a jest. We would never arrest someone for simply doing that!"

"You scared her," Lance chided his oldest brother with a sigh. "I don't mind her giving me a nickname like that. If anything, I enjoy how she's not trying to kiss my feet like the other students do."

"Seriously Richard, you should try to not be so crude. Teasing a young girl like her is such an inappropriate thing to do." Even Jeanne was getting in on the chiding. Being rebuked by both his sister and brother, even Richard looked like he was caving. Hurriedly, he tried to change the subject.

"Well Alex, I hear that you're rather strong for your size," He said, something that Alex knew to be true because of her capability with magic. "Want to test it out?" This helped Alex ease up a bit, as she grew curious about what he meant. "There's a little festival game over here." He said, and pointed over to one Alex knew very well. It was the kind Ruby had seen at carnivals and such back in Vale. In summary, it was the hammer game. A large structure built with a bell at the top, and a wooden lever that you smash with a hammer to send a small piece of metal to chime the bell. Along the vertical shaft of wood were lines painted on with words like 'Weak' toward the bottom, and 'Strong' toward the top.

"Richard, she probably can't even pick up the hammer!" Jeanne seemed like the type who got annoyed by the things her brothers did. She seemed so sweet too before, but obviously she had to deal with their shenanigans often if this set her off.

"No, she could likely do it Jeanne," Lance interjected. "I'm not sure she can get it high up, but she can definitely pick the hammer up."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's pretty strong." Lance said it like a matter of fact. With that, she went over to the game with the siblings.

"Why hello there! You seem like a strapping young man! Want to test out your strength, reach the bell? If you manage to ring it, you get a prize of five silver pieces! Three tries for one copper piece." Alex was about to grab one of the coppers from the pouch at her waist, but Richard gave her a quick pat on the head and provided the man with a copper coin. "Alrighty then. Here you go!" He passed the hammer over to Richard, who looked back at Edward.

"You ready?"

"Always" Edward replied. His face looked serious, something out of place for this little game.

"Oh boy, not again." Jeanne beside her said under her breath. It seemed this was a common occurrence for these two to compete.

First up was Richard. Hefting the hammer up, he gave it a mighty swing and managed to send the marker up over the eighty percent or so point from what Alex could see, eliciting a small amount of praise by the few people who were watching. Giving a slight sneer, Edward took the hammer. After readying himself with some breathing, he practically threw the hammer over his shoulder and swung it down, getting the marker to just below where Richard got his.

"Heh, I win again."

"Ahh, it was a shoulder cramp. Nothing more!"

"You gentlemen have one more swing if you'd like?" Said the owner of the stall.

"Oh? Nah, it goes to her." Edward said, pointing down to Alex. To set the stage for why the man suddenly gave a look as though Edward were talking in a foreign language, it's important to remember that Alex at this point was just barely three and a half feet tall, making her nearly half the height of either Edward or Richard who both seemed to be well into their teens. The hammer itself had a shaft that was technically longer than she was tall. Regardless of his perplexed look, the boys still handed the hammer to her. Which she then easily held in her hands without issue.

In terms of weight, the thing was heavier than her sword, but not so much that she couldn't hold it. Swinging with force wouldn't be very easy, but she definitely would be able to at least swing it down on the target without too much trouble. While she pondered the best way to swing it down for the optimal force, she didn't notice people looking at her with faces that showed their disbelief at how casually she held it. Considering how she'd be if she knew, ignorance was bliss in this case. Going over to the game, Alex got herself ready. Since she wanted to make a showing, she prepared a little something extra. Below the hammer, which she held behind her, she prepared a flat barrier and left it to rest there. Focusing her strengthening magic into her hands and arms, she was ready.

Quickly, she expanded the barrier, so light and weak to be invisible to others, upwards. The resulting force transferred with the hammer, along with the strength she could muster in her own body. The speed and force of the hammer moving so quickly almost wrenched the thing out of her grasp, but she held on. Using her own body as a fulcrum, she put what strength she could into the hammer and smashed it down, giving a little bit a downdraft boost to the hammer with a gust of wind to further enhance the strike. With the magic helping her, that hammer slammed into the target with force, rocketing that marker up. Past the fifty percent point. The seventy percent point. The ninety percent point.

 _ **Ding!**_

It was almost surreal to those who saw this. This tiny girl of no more than seven or eight had just managed to outdo two men almost double her size, with a hammer easily as big as she was. Both Richard and Edward were in absolute shock, and Jeanne was processing what she had seen. Ellia was smirking and shaking her head, almost looking unsurprised by this. Lance, meanwhile, was actually laughing at the occurrence. It took a full minute for the stall owner to actually finally understand the situation. In an instant, his professional demeanor was back.

"That was amazing little girly! You're certainly strong for your size." Reaching behind him and into a small wooden chest, he pulled out a small leather pouch, from which Alex could hear some jingling. "Here you go missy, your prize. Five silver pieces!" After the group walked away from the game, the guy began to look at both the hammer and the machine, apparently questioning whether or not something had gone wrong. Professional or not, that situation was nuts.

"Here," Alex said, passing the pouch to Richard.

"What's this?"

"The prize," she said, again motioning it over to him. "You paid for the game, so it should go to you."

"Please, keep it. You earned it." There was a wry smile on his face. If anything, he pride was probably in pieces at this point, and through will power was he keeping up his usual self. Really, if he accepted such a humble and sincere thing from this young girl, who even knew he was a prince, his pride would shatter completely and summarily. "Besides, we don't really need it. Why not buy yourself a nice toy?" The smile on his face was genuine. Even if his pride was broken, she was adorable.

"Oh, thank you." Alex was not dense. She knew that what she did must have affected him, but she still tried to be fair. Insisting any further would probably damage something in him. Looking at Edward, who's face was looking as dejected as a man rejected in love, she could tell that he was a little less sturdy than Richard.

"So, brothers," Lance began, a small, almost impish smile spreading on his face. "Do you wish to further test Alex's strength?"

""We're fine."" The two said in unison.

"That's still amazing," Jeanne said. "How are you so strong at your age?"

"Well, I drink a lot of milk." Alex said. It's not like she wanted to tell these people that she just used a bunch of magic to make up for her lack of physical ability and managed to hit the bell accidently without meaning to. So she gave the sort of response she would have as Ruby. Upon hearing her, the two older brothers looked at each other, and then over to a stall that was selling warm, spiced milk.

"We'll be right back."

"I'll go with you," Jeanne said, apparently not wanting to be a fourth wheel (if someone in the audience can tell me whether or not this is a real thing, I would be thankful, as I have no idea whether or not a "Fourth Wheel" is an actual term) in this situation, decided to go off and supervise her two brothers, leaving Lance, Ellia, and Alex to their own devices. Once they were gone, Lance turned toward Alex and gave a slight grin.

"How'd you do it?" He cocked an eyebrow as he asked.

"Magic," Alex replied honestly. She could make up an excuse for the two of them, but she figured that the two of them were trustworthy enough. So she decided to explain the method. "I placed a barrier underneath the hammer and expanded it as I swung, speeding up the swing. Then I created a small downdraft above the hammer to speed up the drop, increasing the impact. I originally didn't actually plan to hit the bell though. I didn't think it'd work that well." She said, lowering her eyes in slight shame.

"Oh don't be so down," Ellia said. "It was nice to see those two humbled a little bit. Maybe now they won't be so hard on Lance for losing to you."

"Why are they so hard on Lance?"

"They kept messing with him for losing to a girl. Maybe now they'll ease up just a bit for having lost to the same girl." There was a grin on Ellia's face, as though she was enjoying this. Sibling rivalries exist everywhere, huh? While they were conversaing, the older trio made there way back, both Edward and Richard carrying a full, piping hot mug of steamed milk.

* * *

The night kept on, and Alex stuck with the royal siblings for a while. It wasn't too bad, spending time with her friends outside of school. It gave her a chance to see them in a more relaxed setting. Plus, it was kind of interesting to see the two of them get teased so much by their siblings. Seems families are the same everywhere, and that though made Alex smile to herself. But the rest of her time with them was fun. They visited a few more gaming booths, including a few lotteries, guessing games, and even a shooting gallery done with a bow and arrow (that Alex purposely fudged so as to not further cause the elder brothers to lose face). All said, it was an enjoyable time.

Eventually the group ended up meeting with her siblings, and she waved goodbye to her friends as she went back to her own family. Both Michael and Elizabeth looked glad to see her back, a little surprised when she gave them back the mostly unused copper, and then very surprised to see her carrying a small bag of silver. After she explained the whole situation, including the challenge and the magic, Michael just burst out laughing, tears coming to his eyes. Elizabeth meanwhile, for lack of a better way to put it, face-palmed. She knew her sister was a bit special when it came to some things, but doing this to royalty? She could only imagine how they felt. And yet despite her thinking about this, Michael just laughed. He knew how the prince's must have felt, and he could only blame their bad luck for having the misfortune to try and tease his little sister.

As the night wore on, the five of them eventually met back up with their parents. Sebastian had a slightly rosy tint to his cheeks, and was slumped on Marriene's shoulder. As for her, she just had a face that made it seem like she was used to it. A resigned smile, but she didn't exactly look like she hated it. Michael got under his dad's other arm and helped his mother get him back home, where he promptly fell into the bed, and was out like a light. As for the kids, they went to bed satisfied with their time and the fun they had. Alex was the only person still awake. In her room, she lay on her bed just thinking.

* * *

Thinking about the fun day.

Thinking about how she would be going back to school in just a couple of days.

Thinking about what she would be learning when she returned.

And thinking about a new spell that could help her with her ammo problem. But all good things in time.

When Alex finally began to drift to sleep, a thought began to coalesce into her mind. An idea for her gun, one that could solve her issues. And as she drifted off, counting bullets as though they were sheep, a smile again crept onto her face. A cherubic smile one could say was that of an angel.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Hey, Dravyn here. Obviously. I am not just a doppelganger that has killed and replaced the unit known as Dravyn LeCrux. Nope. I am Dravyn.**

 **Joking aside, thanks for reading the fifth chapter of Re:RWBY, the story that is in no way associated with any manga/ anime with a similar sounding name. So, is it Question and Answer time? I think it's Question and Answer time.**

* * *

 **Q: What are the other Aspects?**

 **A:** In regards to Aspects, my plan was to introduce Aspects and their effects on a person's growth and capabilities as they become relevant. I didn't want to go too in depth, especially as I think it may be a bit dull to some. I do want to introduce some later story wise, but if you guys are curious I can provide a little more information when I get some time.

 **Q: Can Alex make a propellant with Alchemy (magic)?**

 **A:** No. I gave a slight explanation for this earlier on, but I'll talk a little more about it here. The Alchemy in this story is the control and effect of materials. For now, without proper knowledge and experience, the most Alex will be able to do is control the form and such of a material. Later on, with growth and practice, she'll be able to do other things, such as eventually transmuting materials and even changing properties on the fly. Granted, this will be extremely high level stuff, will take it's toll on her Arcana reserves, and will likely not be a "fix all" as this sort of ability usually would. It will require careful work, as well as the scientific knowledge to pull it off.

 **Q: What type of firearm is Alex trying to make?**

 **A:** I already explained it in the story, but it's a revolver. More specifically, it's a revolver modeled after the Smith and Wesson M&P Revolver. Unlike some of the earlier designs for revolvers, it's the first revolver to have used the "swing-out" cylinder for reloading, something commonly seen today where the cylinder swings out (no duh) for easier reloading. Earlier models used a "side-loading" or a "top-break" cylinder, each with disadvantages. The top-break styled cylinder left the gun with a weaker frame and worse recoil, with the side-loading cylinder was less efficient in the long run, allowing one to only eject and chamber one round at a time. The Smith and Wesson M&P was the first of it's kind, and revolutionized the way revolvers were produced, paving the way for more modern revolvers to come out. For this specific one Alex has, it was given a hexagonal cylinder as well, similar to one that would be found on revolvers such as the Chiappa Rhino (a beautiful gun, nearly a work of art), which is used to reduce the profile of the gun when concealed by thinning the cylinder. Finally, the handle itself was made with a nice dark Oak, burnished by rubbing another piece of Oak onto the finished handle to smooth it out and give it a glossy finish. The end product had her symbol (the rose from when she was Ruby Rose) branded onto it with a brand she made using wire. The wire itself was made from spare scrap metal, and formed very carefully. As for the heat, she just stuck it into the fireplace.

 **Q: Will Alex use fire magic?**

 **A:** As her Aspects do not grant her inherent capability or talent with fire, no. Doing magic outside of your Aspect require significant control and knowledge. Messing it up can be very dangerous for the one using the magic. That is not to say she can't start a simple fire. I have a few things I was going to be doing as work arounds, and while some of you may guess a few of them, I'll be keeping the ideas to myself for now. But to answer the question, no actual "fire" magic.

 **Q: Are there Grimm in this world?**

 **A:** No, they are not Grimm. Some may be Grimm-like, but none will explicitely be Grimm. I'll give more details regarding monsters later.

 **Q: Is there Aura in this world?**

 **A:** No. All feats that Alex performs are technically magic, albeit magic that runs on a similar premise to Aura, and works with the same intent, making it familiar and possible for Alex to work it in that way.

* * *

 **Now that the Q &A's are done, some quick announcements. First, I have decided to add non-human races to the setting. To be done will be the required fantasy races, of course, such as elves, beastmen, etc. I'll try and change around the names and such of them so that it doesn't seem too generic. In the meantime, I'm also working on trying to develop a culture for them and a sort of setting for their archetypes. Expect me to take some inspiration from common fantasy sources for that.**

 **As for the situation regarding Alex's future weapon, a plan is in motion. I shall not spoil this plan, but let's just say it is something I've been meaning to try, and I think will turn out pretty awesome.**

 **And finally, I'm not too sure when I'll get a chance for another update for this. Expect a possible break. Should I go longer than a month or two, assume I'm lost/stuck at sea, and/or dead. Or have become armless and am typing with my noes or toes at a slow pace. Any of those may be the case.**

 **Anyhow, that should be all. Thanks for reading, especially that extended Q &A session, and please enjoy down the road. Comments, (constructive) criticisms, and questions are welcome. Haters, none of you should be left as my snipers have dealt with you all already. With that said, goodnight.**

 **Dravyn out!**


	7. Re: Gunslinger

It had been two years since Alex had joined the academy to learn magic. Two long years of studying, lectures, and practice. And today was the day she would begin her third year there.

The past two years had seen her improve her magic capability by leaps and bounds, her practice sessions and imagination being her greatest advantages. At present, the experience she had as Ruby, the advanced sciences and arithmetic she'd learned, gave her a massive advantage compared to most other students. And along with her, reaping the benefits of that knowledge, were Lance and Ellia who practiced daily with Alex.

Although the explanations about the science behind the ideas could not be properly conveyed due to the difference in education and such, they were still able to understand enough to put the ideas into effect. Lance had since gotten better at controlling defensive magic, creating barriers quicker, and stronger than before. Right up there with Alex, he could weather just about any sort of assault from the other students as long as his strength and will held up.

As for Ellia, her control of fire had since improved greatly. At Alex's insistence, she'd taken up learning some wind elemental magic as well. She didn't quite completely understand Alex's attempt to explain oxygen and such to her, but the general idea that there were components in the air that could help boost fire did get across to her. By combining the two, the sheer power output was impressive for her age, with her being able to control flames on par with students a couple of years her senior.

As for Alex herself, her unnaturally diverse moveset continued to grow. For her second year, she had taken courses in regular Alchemy as well, in addition to further courses in lightning, non-systematic magic, and healing. As for her project from her previous metallurgy course, one of the biggest issues she ran into was not having any gunpowder to create bullets with. As an intermediary, she was able to use magic to substitute for a time. Eventually, and this was something that she still occasionally felt regret at doing, she managed to acquire some.

When she last visited home during a break between semesters, she went with her father to his knight corps. Using her downtime, she ended up finding the storeroom for weaponry and such, and ended up finding several barrels stocked full of gunpowder meant for canons. She would have squealed in delight had she not been careful to avoid being caught. With some care and patience, she siphoned a small pouch's worth from the barrels evenly, carefully hid it on her person, and acted nonchalant until she could get home to properly hide and store it. And for a full fortnight, she continued to visit her father's place of work and siphon off a pouch's worth each time.

Before her break had ended, she managed to create rudimentary ammo. Nothing terribly impressive, but still enough to get the job done. Simple rounds made of steel. Okay, so maybe being fully metal made them more than just simple, but a lack of proper resources made creating proper bullets was difficult. Being made of steel, these were heavier and likely to be less accurate than normal, but also likely far more destructive. It also didn't hurt (her) that the gun was specially modified to be able to use .44 cal bullets. Somewhere along the way, the idea of being "good enough" lost it's meaning to Alex.

In addition to the first gun she'd made, she created a second one on the off chance that she would be able to dual wield someday, and idea that just seemed so cool to her. So here she was, returning to a school of magic With a sword strapped to one side of her waist, and a revolver strapped to the other side, with a second sitting quietly in her bag. When her friends and family had first seen the two revolvers, Alex didn't really want to tell them too much. All she did was give them a simple explanation regarding them being "wands" for a specific type of magic she was practicing. Of course this didn't really clarify a thing, but they didn't press her for any further sort of information.

* * *

As she walked through the massive gates into the schools property, she turned to give a hug to Michael who had come with her to see her off, and went off to her dorm. Since the room assignments wouldn't really change from year to year, Alex already knew where to bring her stuff. When she got in, she found Ellia already unpacking her things and setting herself up.

"Hello Ellia." She greeted her friend as she walked through the doors. Heading to her side of the room, she began to remove her bag from her shoulder and placed it carefully on the table.

"Oh, there you are Alex. I was wondering when you would show up." And for the most part, Ellia's demeanor had softened up quite a bit toward Alex. She was a farcry from the completely arrogant and bratty person Alex had originally met. "So what took you so long?"

"My family didn't want me to go." Alex said with a wry smile. It was true that her siblings and parents did make leaving difficult for her. Especially the twins who've grown very attached to her. Literally. They clung to her legs in an attempt to keep her from leaving. But it wasn't unpleasant or anything, In fact, the thought brought a smile to her face when she recalled it.

"I see. And did you happen to make anything weird again?" She turned around and asked as Alex was strapping her a pouch to her belt that carried spare ammo for her revolver.

"I do not make weird things. It's very useful!"

"How so? All you've told Lance and I is that it is a sort of wand, yet I've never seen you utilize any sort of magic with it." Ellia had a point. Alex was careful to not point this at her friends, especially knowing that the raw power behind each bullet would likely render the idea of defending completely moot.

"There's a reason for that. It's too strong."

"You say that, but it can't be that powerful."

"You have no idea..." Alex mumbled under her breath. But outwardly, she spoke otherwise. "Maybe, but I still wanna perfect it before I show you guys."

"Fine, fine." Ellia said, not giving Alex any further grief over the gun situation. "So, did you hear about the gathering?"

"Which one?"

"The students are being gathered into the training arena today for an evaluation of talent and skill. We're to head over there around noon today."

"That's a couple of hours away. Guess I'll just do some reading in the meantime." Alex said, grabbing one of her schoolbooks out of her bag. It was one on the basic theory of combat against Arcane Beasts, how best to harvest the materials from one, and the uses of said materials. It was required reading for her this year, so she figured she would just get it over sooner rather than later.

"I might as well join you then."

* * *

When noon came, Alex and Ellia made their way down to the Arena, finding Lance when they arrived. At his waist also hung a sword, something that really stood out about him. Along with Alex, he was one of only a handful of students who wore a blade on the school grounds. The academy allowed for a program which would allow students after their fourth year of study to switch over to the swordsmanship academy for knights, and several students here were the children of knights.

"Oh, there you are Lance," Ellia said as she and Alex made their way over. "Were any announcements made yet?"

"Nothing much," he replied. "I got here only a little while ago, but the instructors haven't said much."

As he finished saying that, a voice began to call over the rather loud crowd a students. After a minute, with silence having fallen, the man began to speak.

"Alright students. First, allow me to congratulate you all on your third year here. Today, we wish to test you all and see how far you've come in two years of study and practice. We have draw up a bracket of students, and will have you compete with each other. For rules, there are only three; no maiming another student, and no killing. As for the third rule, to make the matches fair we will not be allowing the use of any weapons not created by yourself with magic. Otherwise, do what you can to show off your skills. Your score will be based off of your performance, variety of magic used, and the strength of the magic used. Good luck!"

After hearing this, Alex shared a look with Lance. The forbidding of weapons did kind of limit the two, though not entirely. Both she and Lance were more than competent even without their blades. And the rule only forbid weapons not created by the student with magic, meaning that her revolver was technically allowed. But aside from pistol whipping students, she couldn't really shoot them.

"I'll hold onto your sword during your fights Lance."

"Thanks Alex. I'll do the same with yours."

At this, Alex also removed the holster at her waist and placed it gently inside of her bag next to the other, similarly holstered revolver. Again, while she could technically use them, there would be... repercussions for shooting another student with one. Not too much she could do to lower the lethality without using something like a rubber bullet, but she didn't exactly have the resources for that at the time.

* * *

The fights proceeded fairly quickly. Four square stages were created by stone specializing professors, were used to do multiple fights at a time. Alex, and Ellia and Lance were all put at opposite ends of the brackets. It wasn't too much of a problem for Alex. It gave the three of them a good chance to show off their skills before any of them got defeated, if at all. While Alex may have just been a bit biased, she more or less felt that both Ellia and Lance would likely find nobody their equal during their own fights. As for her, she didn't think much of the other students she would be up against, mostly because she'd seen them fight before, and plenty of them still stuck with the inefficient methods of using chants and such to streamline the magic process.

There was, however, a student that made her kind grimace. Tanya was in her bracket. Speaking of her, she'd not been the most... amenable person for the last couple of years. She'd tried acting like a stereotypical schoolgirl bully, though to little effect on Alex herself. Petty harassment, comments, and other some such that more or less just left Alex annoyed, rather than actually bothered or offended. Based on the set up, if Tanya managed to get her wins in she would end up taking Alex on somewhere near the end of the set.

But there was no point in dealing with the later. She focused on her current opponent, a gangly kid she'd seen a few times before in the non-systematic course. She didn't really know much about what sort of magic he would use, but it never really crossed her mind to worry. She had confidence that she would end up winning. Off to the side, currently free to watch her, Lance was watching her with a small grin, probably fully expecting a comically short match. Ellia was already fighting another student who, upon a quick glance, seemed to be desperately trying to stop her burning assault with some defensive magic. Though that kid had nothing on Alex, so he wouldn't last long.

Looking back at her opponent, it seemed the battle began. Giving a small chant, the air around him began to grow a bit misty as a few shards of ice formed around him, growing until they were nearly a foot in length. Though compared to most other, Alex didn't really show any sort of panic. There were only four of them. Raising her hand to him, Alex quickly and accurately formed and fired off four bolts of electricity, aiming directly for the ice shards. In short order, the ice shattered around him, Alex giving a quick, cocky grin to him.

"Care to just give up? I'd like for this to be over quickly if you don't mind."

Her opponent didn't falter, much to his credit. Instead, he seemed to try working on something a little bigger. But this wasn't an animated show, where the hero allows their opponent to reach their final form. Giving a small sigh, Alex darted off to her opponent, now surprised at her speed, before slamming her barrier-covered hand into his stomach. In short order, she also whipped up a large gust and used it, along with a forceful kick, to propel her opponent off of the stage. With a small smile, she turned back to Lance, who still had his own little grin showing.

"Show off." He said, passing her bag and the swords over to her in preparation for his own upcoming match. "Couldn't you have just put up a barrier and waited for him to give up?"

"Would've taken too long. Plus, I don't think the teachers want to see me using those again."

"Eh, fair point. So, is that how all of your fights are going to go?"

"Maybe. It depends on how I feel." Reaching into her bag, she grabbed out a waterskin and took a few sips. She didn't exactly work up a sweat or anything, but she did feel like making sure she would be ready for her later matches.

* * *

The rest of the matches proceeded rather uneventfully. As she had expected, Alex came across minimum trouble. Ellia ended up beating most of her opponents with sheer firepower, something that began to discourage her later opponents. Lance, no sword in hand, ended up simply creating a blade of ice, more or less. It wasn't exactly sharp, but it worked for his purposes. Using a few of the tricks he'd practiced with Alex, he managed to beat his opponents with no issue as well.

After several fairly quick and easy wins, Alex's next opponent was exactly who she'd expected. Tanya. Her heterochromic eyes showing a mix of smugness and arrogance. From what Alex had seen from before, she beat a majority of her enemies through basic fire magic. She was by no means weak, but Alex didn't think she'd be stronger than her defense. As the match approached, the two took their positions up on the stage.

"Oh, would you look at that? It looks like I'm finally going to be able to prove how much better than you I am. I'll let you surrender now if you want." Her shit eating grin just made Alex angry, and made her arrogance even more obvious.

". . . " At this point, she didn't even find the need to grace her with a response.

Once the match began, Alex expected an easy win. But a clanging grabbed her attention from the crowd. Coming toward the stage was a man in a set of plate mail. As he reached the stage, he climbed up onto the stage and stood beside Tanya.

"Whoa, what's going on?" This seemed low, even for her.

"Oh, nothing much. This is just something I created with magic." She said, tapping the side of the armor. In response, all she could hear was a hollow, metallic noise. "It's a Living Armor."

"Oh, that's amazing." One of the teachers watching said. "She truly is a Piper, able to use their magic at such a young age."

This was unexpected. And for the brief moment she was shocked, it was enough. The suit of living armor charged at her, throwing it's fist at her with surprising agility. Reacting as quickly as she possibly could, Alex sidestepped and tried to put distance between her and the thing, though it followed her immediately and ceaselessly.

"Let's see how long you can dodge my Living Armor! I hid this trump card the entire time simply to show that your defense means nothing!" Tanya said, gloating over how Alex was now seemingly in distress.

On her end, Alex was concerned mostly with the fact that this thing seemed to be able to go without pause. Not being a living creature gave it an advantage in close quarters. But Alex herself was not lacking in that department. Finding her center, she formed a barrier around her fist and gave as strong a punch as she could toward it's mid section, using her magic to not only empower her strike, but also rapidly expand the barrier to throw the Living Armor away with a massive strike.

For a second, she gave a grin of satisfaction. But it didn't matter, especially as the Living Armor easily kept itself upright and continued it's assault without pause. That kind of strike which could lay out fully grown men did nothing against the suit of mail, leaving not even a dent. This was bad. Very, _very_ bad.

"Oh sh-" Her expletive cut short by having to again go on the defensive. Reacting to the situation, Alex threw up a barrier between herself and the thing. It's strikes couldn't possibly get through, but it had seemingly limitless stamina to keep attacking with, while Alex had, although quite a large capacity, a limited control of the arcane. To make it worse, Tanya had begun also throwing fire magic at Alex now, further limiting mobility and taking more stamina from her as the assault continued. She had no choice now, it was a desperate situation.

"Lance, throw me my bag!" Alex roared from her position in desperation. Reacting quickly, he reared back and launched the bag with all of the strength he could. Disengaging from the Living Armor, Alex put all of the strength she could into her legs and bolted for the bag, allowing the assault to now break her barrier and continue after her, a fact that left a look of unbridled glee on Tanya's face.

"Hah! What can you do now?!"

In silent response, Alex caught her bag and quickly reached in for two things. The first, one of her revolvers. The second, a small pouch of spare munitions. Grabbing both out, she threw the bag back at Lance who caught it carefully. In hindsight, her throwing a bag containing a loaded revolver at a young boy who had absolutely no idea how dangerous it was was a stupid idea. But she didn't have the time to consider gun safety at that moment. Plus the weapon wasn't cocked, so maybe it wouldn't go off. But that was beside the point.

In one fluid move, Alex got the holster and the belt around her waist, drew the revolver, and pulled the hammer back. All of this done quickly and with precise, practiced movements. This feeling was something that, though she knew she was in some measure of danger, made her feel so alive. Mere feet from her the Armor charged, and in an instant she did the only thing she could. Pointing the revolver at the heel of the thing's foot, she pulled the trigger.

To Alex, it was merely the sound of a gun going off. To everyone else, it was a roar of thunder. All persons in attendance, save only the experienced instructors and maybe a few of the older students, recoiled with their hands to their ears from the loud crack that now resounded in the arena. It was as though a canon had just gone off in the building, a noise that immediately set anyone who heard it into a panic. But as they began to recover from the unexpected noise, they beheld the same sight that those who managed to keep themselves poised did. The Living Armor's foot had been blown clean off, causing it to stumble to the ground a mere foot from Alex. With quick and accurate motions that would make even the most hardened gunslinger envious, Alex rapidly fanned the hammer back twice more, and fired again with almost preternatural accuracy and skill to the knees, blowing the left leg clean off of the golem.

In the moments accompanying those shots, several things became clear. The first being that the professors themselves could not understand what Alex had just done. The second, that both Ellia and Lance finally understood just what exactly it was that Alex had been keeping secret from the two of them, and how powerful it truly was. And finally, that Tanya's face has frozen into a look of shock as her Living Armor just had it's reinforced leg blown clean off.

As for Alex, this was something that worked beyond her expectations. Due to the scarcity of ammo, she had been afraid of using many, if any, of the limited bullets she had. But reinforcing and firing off the rounds using a little magic to aid in bullet velocity had allowed her to blow the leg clean off of a suit of armor. It's power was exactly as she'd hoped, and the gun was like clockwork; perfect and precise. With her worries now squarely removed, a smile crept up on her face. Holding herself up straight, Alex looked at the golem before her and held her gun up as though she was in an old western.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said under her breath. "May I introduce you to a gun." With a near manic grin plastered across her face now, she took aim. And this time, her volume back to normal, she made a little callback toward her opponent. "I'll let you surrender now if you want." And so her finger closed slowly on the trigger...

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Yo. Yeah, I know. Been a while. Stuff happened, so here's a quick cliff notes version. My laptop and tablet are somewhere in the bottom of the Atlantic I think, with a wave having knocked them off the boat. Free time is scarce, I had to rewrite this from scratch, and right now my wallet is angry at me for having just spoiled myself with a brand new computer and tablet purchase. Along with a few extra things to help me avoid that catastrophe again.**

 **So, Q &A time:**

* * *

 **Q:** Is this a crossover or based off of actual games or shows?

 **A:** No, it isn't. The world itself, the system for magic, as well as the Aspects are little creations of mine. Most of the idea for world building came from my time playing D&D as a DM, but it isn't exactly based off of that either. It's all self made, more or less. Though I'll admit, some magic may have been a little inspired by it.

* * *

 **Q:** Will Alex regain her Semblance?

 **A:** Not quite, though her fighting style will still mostly be based around speed. I have a plan to allow her to more or less still fight as though she has her Semblance, but that's something for later that comes after a bit of growth.

* * *

 **Q:** Lost at sea, stuck on a boat, dead, dying, or armless?

 **A:** A mix of B and D.

* * *

 **Q:** Will Remnant be playing a larger role in the story?

 **A:** I'm honestly trying to avoid that if I possibly can. I'd like for this story to be it's own sort of thing. I haven't exactly planned any nods toward it for the future, though who knows how I'll feel later down the line? The current answer, a tentative "not really".

* * *

 **Now, a quick side note. In order to fit better with my scheduling, I'm going to be trying the advice of reader King Tyras. I'll be trying to shorten the chapters going forward in order to update more often if possible. So for now, the Re:RWBY chapters will be averaging around the same length as my other stories until further notice. But I'll have to see if this works with me for the foreseeable future.**

 **That'll be all for now. The same applies her as always. Comments, criticisms, and questions are welcome. See ya next time.**

 **Dravyn out!**


End file.
